Starting off our countdown of the greatest Cavaliers ever, is none other than Wally Szczerbiak.  Wally was born in Madrid, Spain.  He spent almost all of his youth in Europe, as his dad was a professional basketball player for Real Madrid.  After his dad retired, he moved the family to New York.  Wally was a grade-A high school baller, and was recruited by Division 1 Miami of Ohio to continue his basketball career.

Wally was a man possessed at Miami, leading a team of relative scrubs to the NCAA's Sweet 16 in 1999 as a 10 seed.  In their first round upset of #7 Washington, Wally unloaded for a career high 43 points.  After that they upset #2 Utah; he scored 24 points and led the Redhawks to the Sweet 16.  Meanwhile, he was named a first team All-American and MAC player of the year in 98-99.  He finished his career as Miami's 2nd all-time leading scorer. 

After his solid college campaign, Wally was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 6th overal pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.  His best year was in 2002, when he played in all 82 games, averaged 18 points, and was added to the Western Conference All-Star team.  In 2003, he tied a Timberwolves franchise record scoring 44 points.  For one reason or another, Minnesota decided to have Wally come off the bench in 2004.  He wasn't too happy about it.  In 2005, he regained his starting role.  His total contract value for his time in Minnesota was $63 million.    

In 2006, the Timberwolves decided it was time to part ways with fan-favorite Szczerbiak, and traded him to the Boston Celtics for basically Ricky Davis.  He played well for Boston initially, and early in the season dropped 35 points on the Bobcats.  But pretty soon, his injuries started to catch up with him and he had to have knee surgery.  Not too long after that, he suffered injuries to both of his ankles and decided to have season-ending surgery on both ankles.  Had Wally been able to avoid these injuries,which greatly affected his shooting and jumping ability, he could still be playing today.  He's not on an NBA roster currently.

The Celtics saw Wally's diminishing skill-set and made a move on draft night to trade him along with Delonte West to Seattle, in exchange for Ray Allen and their 35th pick.. who ended up being Glen Davis.  Probably one of the best trades in Boston's history.  Ray Allen's pretty good from what I hear.

In 2008, the Cavaliers decided to go after Wally.  At this point in his career, he was still a solid knock-down shooter, but his injuries were of major concern.  We decided we wanted him anyways, and in February 2008 we completed a three-team trade to acquire Wally, Delonte, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith.  This sent Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and Shannon Brown on their way.  Probably shouldn't have given up on Shannon so early.  I recall there was a lot of excitement in the air after this trade, mostly because of Ben Wallace.  I was more excited about Wally.   

In his first year, he played in 25 regular season games, starting only one time.  He averaged 8.2 points and 3 rebounds.  He was still very skilled at putting the ball in the basket, but you could tell his ankles were bothering him.  When the playoffs came around, Mike Brown decided to start Wally at the 2 position. 

In an important Game 6 vs. the Washington Wizards in Round 1, Wally dropped 26 points and helped the Cavs advance out of the first round.  We eventually lost to Boston, but he averaged 10.8 points per game, and was always the best-looking Cavalier representative.  Wally was always good for a quote after the game too.  After one game,  "Bottom line in this league is, you've got to make shots, especially in the 4th quarter."

Wally averaged 20 minutes a game the next year, and he played in 74 games.  He averaged 7 points and 3 rebounds, shooting 45% from the field and 41% from 3.  I can still hear my roommate screaming WALLLLYYYYY as he swished another shot.  After that season, the Cavaliers signed Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon.  These acquistions somehow made Wally expendable, and since his contract was up they did not resign him.  I'll always remember the day we got Wally, and the passion he played with as a Cavalier.  LeBron always loved to find an open Wally Szczerbiak, because he was a reliable jump shooter.  An interesting fact about Wally:  He named his son Maximus Jack.  I can't imagine what that must be like.  Maximus Jack Szczerbiak.  Wally Szczerbiak is Underrated