The Cavs Are The Cincinnati Bengals Of The NBA

We love to draw comparisons in sports.

Is LeBron James better than Michael Jordan? Is Shoehei Ohtani this generation's Babe Ruth?

Here's a modern, local, Ohio comparison. The Cavaliers are the NBA's Cincinnati Bengals. 

Of course, these are two very different sports. But the parallels of these two young, exciting, and successful teams cannot be ignored.

Youthfulness

The Cincinnati Bengals are the NFL's third youngest team, with the average age of their roster around 25.5 years old. Similarly, the Cavs are just a few months older, with an average roster age of 26 years old. 

For both squads, the chunk of their young core are still on rookie contracts, making the window to "win now" a lot more entertaining.

Cincinnati's success depends on sophomore No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow connecting with rookie receiver Ja'Marr Chase. In a similar breath, the Cavaliers go as far as 22 year-old Darius Garland and rookie Evan Mobley can take them.

Overachieving

Nobody thought either of these two teams would be where they are at, regardless of which team you are a fan of.

The Bengals won the AFC North, and many expected to be done there. Nope. They are a game away from the Super Bowl, just one year removed from a 4-11-1 dumpster fire.

In basketball, the Cavs already have 30 wins and are just 1.5 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference. A year ago, they won just 19 games, brought Anderson Varejao back for a strange farewell tour, and Kevin Love got kicked off of Team USA.

Now, the sky is truly the limit in Cleveland for years to come, and despite adversity, the Bengals are just two wins away from hoisting the Lombardi trophy.

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