Longtime Cleveland Cavaliers fans probably have fond memories of Chris Dudley, who at 6' 11'' could jump through the roof, but was one of the most challenged free throw shooters in the history of the NBA. When the former Ivy League star out of Yale's career was complete, the fourth round draft pick by the Cavaliers would play 16 seasons and grab nearly 5,500 rebounds in his career for 5 different teams.He was also a trailblazer in many ways for people who suffer from Type 1 diabetes. Dudley was the first NBA player to play with the disease and opened the doors for players such as Adam Morrison, who was selected with the third overall pick in the NBA draft 2 decades after Dudley hung up his high tops.

Dudley will tell his inspirational story to children in a new book released in time for Diabetes Awareness Month. "Chris Dreams BIG" tells his story and the press release promoting the book reads:

It's not been a good year for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West, who was arrested on September 17 in Prince George's County, Maryland. West, 26, was indicted Tuesday on two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, two counts of carrying a handgun, two counts of transporting a handgun, one count of reckless driving, and one count of negligent driving. Each of the weapons charges carries up to three years in prison.

Initially, West had only been charged with two counts of carrying a handgun and speeding. West was arrested back in September when he was riding a three-wheel motorcycle on a highway in Upper Marlboro and cut off a police officer. He was then pulled over, and cops found two loaded handguns on him. He also had a loaded shotgun in a guitar case strapped to his back.

West has been struggling this season with off-court issues, and only made his season debut during Saturday's win over Charlotte. He scored 13 points in 24 minutes. But, the Cavs are not yet ready to start him.

Coach Mike Brown said that West, who took two leaves of absence during training camp and missed the first three regular season games, would come off the bench for the time being and that Anthony Parker would start

Panic? Who, me? OK, I might have panicked a little after the first two games of this young Cavs season. My bad. I think it was justified, but what’s more important is that the next two games were much different. The Cavaliers are now 2-2 and sit atop the Central Division, as they should. So what changed?

It has to be said that the game in Minnesota was a lucky draw for the Cavs in terms of timing. Not only are the Timberwolves young and poorly put together, they were also missing Kevin Love through injury and are breaking in a rookie PG. I’ve loved Jonny Flynn since he was a freshman at Syracuse and I think he will become a very good PG in the NBA. But a rookie is a rookie. He hasn’t quite figured out how to set his teammates up yet and was more concerned with scoring. He shot 60% and scored 17, so that’s not too bad. But he made the Wolves one dimensional and much easier to defend.

The Cavs defense was better for long stretches and the offense showed some flashes of what they can do. The starters, especially LeBron and Mo, looked great and getting 35 points off the bench was huge. They also only had 11 turnovers, which seems much more like what they did last year.

I suppose it makes sense that there could be some bumps after so many changes to the roster, but this is ridiculous. Before you get the wrong idea, no I’m not panicking. Well, not anymore at least. I actually was panicking at halftime of game 2 of this season as the Cavs sauntered off to the locker room down by 18. To the Raptors. But the team’s third quarter performance brought me back from the brink.

The Cavs’ struggles in their first game against Boston have been well documented. That’s why I was so disappointed to see them continue to make the same mistakes Wednesday night in Toronto. That first half against the Raptors was one of the worst halves of professional basketball I have ever seen. The Cavs were just a bad, bad basketball team for those 24 minutes. We’ve seen some atrocious offense from our beloved Cavaliers the last couple of years, but one thing has remained pretty consistent during that time. That’s defense. Normally, even if the shots aren’t falling, the Cavs are playing aggressive defense and trying to build off of that.

It seems that every sports fan in Cleveland is going crazy over the Cavaliers. The Browns are horrible and the Indians finished a miserable year so LeBron and Shaq are pretty much the only gang in town right now.

You can take a trip down memory lane by downloading some old classic songs for free from the Cavaliers that you will remember vividly if you have been a Cavs fans during the last two decades.

Click here for the "Greatest Hits" from the Coliseum, Gund Arena, and Quicken Loans Arena that should get you in the mood for the season. And, yes, they are cheesy as you remember and include: