Jim Ingraham: Here's the point ... Darius Garland's a crucial part of Cavs' success

Pop quiz: Who was the first point guard in Cavaliers history? (Please say you give up or we'll be here all night). (Attention, Kyrie Irving: no, it wasn't you). The first point guard in Cavaliers history was Johnny Egan, who was born in 1939, and on the night of Oct. 14, 1970, was the starting point guard for the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers in the first game in franchise history, which was a 107-92 loss to the expansion Buffalo Braves. The game was played before a yawning crowd of 7,129 in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, which no longer exists. Nor do the Buffalo Braves. Two months later the Cavs traded Egan to the San Diego Rockets, who also no longer exist. But on October 14, 1970, Egan was the Cavs' third-highest scorer with 12 points. He had five assists. In his 26 career games with the Cavs, Egan averaged four points and two assists per game. That may not sound like much of a point guard, but the 1970-71 Cavs weren't much of a team. On Nov. 10, their record was 0-15. On Dec. 4 their record was 1-27. At the end of the season their record was 15-67. But there can only be one first point guard in franchise history, and for the Cavs, that honor belongs to Johnny Egan. He was the first of 23 point guards in the Cavs' 52 years of existence, which to these eyes looks like a pretty decent ratio for a franchise that has only won one championship. My interest in a roll call of Cavs points guards has been piqued this season by the current office holder, Darius Garland, who is as skilled, intelligent, unselfish, creative and team-oriented as any point guard in the NBA. The more you watch him the more you realize he's the embodiment of a winning player. He's kind of like the Nick Chubb of the Cavs, minus about 50 pounds. We know good point guards in Cleveland, because we've seen our share of them. Maybe it's the water, but over their 52 years of existence, the Cavs have rarely lacked a quality master of ceremonies, which would be, minus about five syllables, a good alternate name for a point guard. The two at the top of the list, of course, are Irving and Mark Price, who orchestrated their magic for six (Irving) and seven (Price) seasons in Cleveland. Not coincidentally, the Cavs won a championship with Irving, whose unforgettable three-ball that sunk the Warriors in Game 7 in 2016 might be the single biggest moment in Cleveland sports history. Price's Cavs teams came close to winning a championship a couple times, and they probably would have — if Michael Jordan had taken up stamp collecting instead of basketball. The Cavs also had some really-good-occasionally great point guards such as Terrell Brandon, Brevin Knight and Andre Miller, who were all first-round picks by the Cavs in a nine-year span during the 1990s. In 1972-73, the Cavs had a future Hall of Fame point guard AND coach in Lenny Wilkens, who ran the point for Cleveland for two seasons (1972-74), then coached the Cavs for seven more, from 1986-93, and very well could have coached them to a championship — if Michael Jordan had taken up stamp collecting instead of basketball. Little known fact: Wilkens and Johnny Egan were the starting guards for Providence College for two seasons (1958-59 and 1959-60). After 10 seasons with the Knicks, another Hall of Fame point guard, Walt Frazier, played the last two seasons of his career with the Cavs in the late ′70s. He was over the hill, but not by a lot. He averaged 16 points and four assists for Cleveland in 1977-78. The Cavs over the years have gotten productive seasons out of non-star point guards such as Jim Cleamons, Foots Walker, Geoff Huston, John Bagley, Jeff McInnis, Eric Snow and Mo Williams. One-shot wonders? Only hardcore Cavs diehards would remember Butch Beard, Mike Bratz and Milt Palacio. Of course, the Cavs' best point guard ever wasn't a point guard. He was LeBron James, who anointed himself point guard when crunch time demanded it, and that was pretty much fine with everyone, except for the opposing team. From top to bottom, the Cavs' history of point guards matches up well, if not better than most teams, and Darius Garland, now in his third season with the Cavs but still only 21, is moving the needle in a positive direction. You can win without an elite point guard, but it makes winning a lot harder. Garland seems to read the floor and the game really well, a trait not shared by all point guards, even some good ones. That Garland, at 21, has already reached this level of point guard maturity, coupled with his impressive skill set, makes him not just one of the Cavs' best players, but their most important player. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com and follow him @Jim_Ingraham on Twitter.