Dale Zanin-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday, the official House of Excellence Instagram account posted a statistic showing that Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang has the most wins of any NBA player in the past decade. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had the most wins in the 2010s, while former San Antonio Spurs star big man Tim Duncan had the most wins in the 2000s.
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell recently said on Instagram that he’s excited to see his teammates join James and Duncan in the decadent record books.
After spending his first two seasons as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Niang agreed to a three-year, $26 million contract with the Cavaliers in the 2023 offseason.
The 30-year-old forward becomes a valuable role player for the 76ers in the 2022-23 season. During the regular season, he played 78 games for the team, averaging 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. A season ago, Niang was also very efficient in shooting from beyond the three-point line, shooting 40.1% from three-point range.
However, the forward had a quiet 2023 postseason in Philadelphia. He averaged no more than 4.4 points in either of the Sixers’ playoff series, but his 3-point shooting did really well in the team’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. Reached 50.0%. Philadelphia swept Brooklyn in four games in the first round before ultimately losing to Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics in seven games in the second round.
Mitchell, meanwhile, enjoyed the best season of his career a season ago. The 2022-23 season is his first season in Cleveland. He played 68 games with the Cavaliers, averaging a career-high 28.3 points per game, and averaging 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
Niang is expected to be a stable member of the Cavaliers’ rotation throughout the 2023-24 regular season. After all, in addition to being a solid rebounder at the forward position, he’s also one of the best three-point shooters on the team right now.