Ed Wagner Jr. / Chicago TribuneOne of the most painful moments in Cleveland sports history was just the brightest in a long series of torments placed on the Cavaliers by Michael Jordan.

• The day Cavaliers fans stunned former Bull guard Norm Van Lier
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Well, what did you expect?

Naming Michael Jordan as the Cavaliers' top antagonist of all-time was almost as easy as selecting LeBron James as the top Cavs player of all-time.

For all the cumulative damage Jordan did throughout his career, nothing crushed the franchise like The Shot -- over an outstretched Craig Ehlo -- that gave the Chicago Bulls a 101-100 victory in the deciding Game 5 of the first-round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on May 7, 1989. That shot, and the game, propelled Jordan and the Bulls into the stratosphere.

Neither they, nor the Cavs, were ever the same again. It was Cleveland's misfortune to field some of its best teams as Jordan was at his greatest.

"You look at the top 10 players on our team and then compare them to the their top 10 and we were the better team," Wayne Embry, the Cavs' general manager from 1986-96, recently told The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto. "But they had greatness.

"It's just so hard to beat greatness."

The great Jordan leads the Top 40 antagonists, the third category in a series celebrating the Cavaliers' 40th season. Originally, this category was the Top 40 opponents. But while top opponents could be a list of the best players to face Cleveland -- like, say, Wilt Chamberlain, although he was nearing the end of his career when the franchise debuted -- we wanted to compile a list of players who really got under the skin of the team or its fans.

As we did in selecting the Top 40 games in Cavs history in January and the Top 40 players in February, Plain Dealer sportswriters Mary Schmitt Boyer, Dennis Manoloff and Mike Peticca collected nominations from our colleagues. Helping in the process were Deputy Sports Editor Mike Starkey, Plain Dealer Reader Representative (and former sports editor) Ted Diadiun, columnist Bill Livingston, retired Plain Dealer reporter Burt Graeff and former beat writer Elton Alexander.

Some antagonists were selected on the basis of career achievement, some for a single incident, some on general principles. If there was a team category, the Detroit Pistons would have been the clear winners.

As in the previous stories, there are no right or wrong answers. Fans are encouraged to express their opinions and suggestions for the Top 40 on cleveland.com.

1. Michael Jordan -- Has three of the top scoring games all-time against the Cavs, including his personal-best 69 points in a Bulls overtime victory on March 28, 1990. But it's The Shot that Clevelanders hold against him most -- and he knows it.

A recent story about a couple of games of HORSE Jordan, now the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, played against Charlotte rookie Gerald Henderson contained the following exchange:

"You've got to miss eventually," Henderson told Jordan.

"That's what Cleveland said," Jordan replied.

2. Rick Mahorn -- Nearly decapitated Mark Price with a hard elbow to the head during a game on Feb. 28, 1989. Mahorn was fined $5,000 for the hit, but not suspended, while Price suffered a severe concussion -- one of many injuries that factored into the Cavs' surrender of the five-game conference lead they built that night. Fans were not alone in their distaste for Mahorn. The late Johnny Most, the legendary Celtics play-by-play voice, nicknamed Mahorn and Jeff Ruland "McFilthy and McNasty," interchangeable nicknames when they played for the Washington Bullets.

3. Rasheed Wallace -- Elbowed Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the head, drawing blood, during a regular-season game in 2006. Wallace was fined $5,000 for the hit. Old-timers were upset that not only did none of Ilgauskas' teammates retaliate -- in fact, it was Ilgauskas who finally hip-checked Wallace as payback in the next matchup that season -- but LeBron James actually joked with Wallace during pre-game warmups before that rematch. That led to the memorable "Sheed Must Bleed" rallying cry by fans, although the Pistons used it for inspiration to win a first-round playoff series in seven games.

4. Carlos Boozer -- With a nickname like "Booz," how can you not root against the guy who turned his back on the Cavs after they allowed him to become a free agent, thinking he'd re-sign with the team? That'll teach 'em. Injuries have kept him from playing much in Cleveland, but when he does, the fans still let him have it.

5. DeShawn Stevenson -- Please don't make us rehash the entire Soulja Boy thing again. Suffice it to say, Stevenson made a general nuisance of himself in three straight years of first-round playoff matchups between the Cavs and Wizards from 2006-08 -- all won by the Cavs. But he was all talk. He never had the game to back it up.

6. Charles Barkley -- He's so big, he makes the list in two categories -- as a player and a television analyst. It wasn't bad enough that he once leveled Ehlo during a playoff game in 1990, while averaging 25.6 points and 14 rebounds as Philadelphia won the series, but he has been a constant critic in his role on TNT, which earns him a rousing reception any time the studio crew visits. He does seem to have become a LeBron James admirer, but that hasn't been enough to win Cavs fans over just yet.

7. George McCloud -- Sucker-punched John Battle outside the locker room after the Cavs' 119-115 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 22, 1992. The two had tussled during the fourth quarter. Battle, six inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than McCloud, reportedly went looking for a 2x4 to retaliate, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "grabbing a board." McCloud was fined $10,000 and suspended for a game.

7a. In an aside, Indiana coach Bob Hill reportedly got into a shoving match with then-Cavs coach Lenny Wilkens during the McCloud-Battle dust up, then complained he was not well-received when he went to the locker room to apologize for whole incident. Really?

8. Allen Iverson -- It actually started his rookie season, when the media named him MVP of the Rookie Game during All-Star Weekend festivities in Cleveland in 1997, when fans wanted Kobe Bryant to win the honor. Iverson never forgot the slight and played some of his greatest games here. Iverson has twice scored 50 or more points against Cleveland and owns the arena record with 54 points.

9. Bill Laimbeer -- OK, here's the first guy on the list for general principles. He was nominated as "one of the goons in the Detroit gang." He actually baited the normally placid Brad Daugherty into throwing a punch during a Cavs' 80-79 victory at Detroit on Jan. 27, 1989. Laimbeer became an All-Star with the Pistons after playing his first one and a half seasons with the Cavs.

10. Paul Pierce -- Has a long and snippy history vs. Cleveland that pre-dates the shootout duel with LeBron James in the Celtics' triumph in Game 7 of 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals. It goes all the way back to a preseason game in Columbus in 2004, when James and Pierce went at each other in the game and after it -- no doubt in part because Pierce spit in the direction of the Cavs bench during the game.

11. Norm Van Lier -- Fans turned on him after he criticized the Cavs in the mid-70s, just as the team was starting to improve. For more on this story, check out Burt Graeff's recollections. 

12. Hedo Turkoglu -- He was the biggest reason the Orlando Magic won the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Cavs never found an answer for him on the court and never could wipe that smirk off his face.

13. Larry Bird -- Fans chanted "We want Bird" during a 105-98 playoff victory in 1985 that Bird missed with an injury. They got him the next game, as he put up 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to eliminate the Cavs in four games of the best-of-five series. He averaged 24.2 points and nearly 10 rebounds and six assists against the Cavs during his career, which ended in Cleveland's 122-104 home win over Boston in a 1992 conference semifinal Game 7.

14. Dennis Rodman -- Tormented the Cavs with two hated foes: Pistons and Bulls. In addition to dominating on the boards, he was assigned to rough up Larry Nance on the perimeter. It often worked, throwing Nance off his game. Rodman once greeted reporters visiting the post-game locker room wearing one of those masks Jason wore in the movie "Halloween."

15. Elvin Hayes -- In 66 games, averaged 21.3 points and 12 rebounds against Cleveland. He was one of Washington's stars during the Miracle of Richfield. Famously, he missed key free throws in two Bullets losses in the classic 1976 playoff series. But, he was the main reason the Bullets were close. He averaged 20.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots in 10 career playoff games vs. the Cavs.

16. JoJo White -- Averaged 19.3 points and 5.4 assists in 42 games. Mostly, he hit big shots, including late-game daggers among his 29 points in the Celtics 1976 playoff series clincher.

17. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- Until Jordan came along, he had the two biggest games by an opponent, twice scoring 53 points for the Milwaukee Bucks. He finished his long Bucks/Lakers career with averages of 26.3 points and 11.4 rebounds -- and countless defensive stops. Incidentally, he scored 42 points in the Lakers' quadruple overtime loss on Jan. 29, 1980, recently named No. 1 in the recent Top 40 poll of all-time Cavs games.

18. Isiah Thomas -- See Bill Laimbeer. He was nominated for being the "sneaky leader of the Detroit thugs." Besides often leading the Pistons with his scoring, his 619 assists against Cleveland tops every Cavs opponent.

19. Shaquille O'Neal -- Face it, the guy was a load whether he was playing in Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami or Phoenix. He also loved to get into a war of words. After Horace Grant punched Danny Ferry in Orlando on April 10, 1996 -- earning a $5,000 fine and a one-game suspension -- O'Neal defended his teammate by saying, "There's two kinds of dirty: dirty and sewer dirty. Danny Ferry is sewer dirty and has been ever since he was at Duke." Of course, now that Ferry's his boss, O'Neal always refers to him as "the great Danny Ferry."

20. Scottie Pippen -- Everyone remembers his scoring and rebounding, but where he really made an impact was when he and Jordan double-teamed Mark Price on the perimeter. Price, at 6-feet, could not see over the two. Coach Phil Jackson saved this tactic for the playoffs, especially Game 3 of the 1992 conference finals, which keyed an easy Bulls victory after the Cavs' 107-81 rout of the Bulls in Chicago in Game 2.

21. George Gervin -- Helped dash fans hopes that had been raised after the Miracle of Richfield. When the Spurs entered the NBA in 1976-77, Gervin was the main reason why Cleveland had so much trouble beating San Antonio. In 32 games, he averaged 27.4 points per game. From 1976-79, the Cavs won just two of 10 matchups with the Spurs -- both in the first season.

22. Kobe Bryant -- He has four rings, the Cavs have none. Enough said. James' No. 1 rival as the best player in the league, although he doesn't always play as well against James as he does against other teams.

23. Dave Cowens -- He demolished the Cavs with his relentless hustle and physical play around the basket. Especially irritating was the sense that he seemed to have the referees on his side. Most distressing for fans was his 1976 playoff series, when he averaged 18 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists as Boston won in six games.

24. Spencer Haywood -- Had a ton of great games, including a 48-point performance for Seattle on Jan. 7, 1972. He hit a jump shot with one second left to lift New York to a 109-107 victory and a two-game sweep in the best-of-three first-round series in 1978.

25. Charles Oakley -- A tough, muscular Cleveland native who always seemed primed for his hometown team, especially when his Bulls won a 1988 playoff series, and when he helped the Knicks oust Cleveland in 1995 and 1996. He owns the opponent record for rebounds in a game with 35 in a Cavs' 107-103 victory at Chicago on April 22, 1988. In 64 games, he averaged 10.5 rebounds.

26. Patrick Ewing -- Averaged 22.8 points in 47 regular-season games and 18.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots in the Knicks' 1995 and 1996 playoff wins. The fact that he's now tutoring Orlando center Dwight Howard as a Magic assistant coach doesn't help.

27. Gilbert Arenas -- Though supplanted by the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, for several years the Washington Wizards were the Cavs' biggest rivals. Arenas was their best player. He scored 45 points in a regular-season game at Washington on Nov. 18, 2006, and he had 44 in a 121-120 Cavs overtime victory in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series on May 3, 2006. In Game 6, you may recall James whispering in Arenas' ear just before Arenas missed two crucial free throws in the closing seconds of the Cavs' series-deciding 114-113 victory.

28. Pete Maravich -- With his scoring -- averaging 24.7 points a game against Cleveland -- and peerless passing, he was often the main reason his good Hawks teams triumphed, and often the only reason his inferior New Orleans Jazz teams played the Cavs tough.

29. Reggie Miller -- It's not so much the 1,290 points he scored -- the seventh most by any opponent -- it's how he got so many of them, swishing long-range jumpers in crunch time with a certain air of arrogance.

30. Karl Malone -- He got booed during 1997 All Star Game and when he was introduced as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history because fans thought he dissed Cleveland heading into the game. Asked 10 days earlier about playing here, Malone told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "I want to go, stay healthy and get the hell out of Cleveland. My wife and kids are going to leave for the airport in the third quarter." After the game, he said, "All I said was the truth. I was asked if I would rather be here or somewhere else, and I didn't lie. I guess they thought I was ripping on Cleveland. I wasn't. They must have been looking for someone to boo." Of course, as half of the potent Malone-John Stockton combination that gave everybody fits in those days, fans had basketball reasons to boo him, too.

30a. Though he didn't get booed that weekend, Stockton always was a headache, running the pick-and-roll to perfection with Malone, and somehow managing to get a cheap shot in as well. He does share the record for most assists vs. Cleveland with 22 in an OT game at Utah on Dec. 11, 1989. Magic Johnson had 22 for the Lakers on Nov. 17, 1983.

31. Dwyane Wade -- His memorable head-to-head duels with James are instant classics, but as long as the Cavs are coming out with the victories he's not the villain some of these other guys are. Competition really started in a Cavs 106-99 win on April 1, 2006, when James finished with 47 points (18 in the fourth quarter) and Wade had 44 (21 in the fourth), a game voted No. 3 in the recent poll of all-time Cavs games. There have been many memorable rematches, but head-to-head, James is 13-9 against Wade, who has averaged 27.6 points in 22 career games.

32. Kevin McHale -- The man Charles Barkley said was maybe his toughest opponent showed Cavs fans why. His stifling low-post defense and clutch rebounding were more important against the Cavs than even his 18-point scoring average.

33. Dwight Howard -- To paraphrase Shaquille O'Neal, "Superman, my butt." Helped Magic bounce top-seeded Cavs from 2009 Eastern Conference Finals and was criticized by O'Neal earlier this season for making off with his nickname. Rivalry with the Magic could replace that with the Celtics, depending on how the rest of this season goes.

34. Moses Malone -- His 1,558 regular-season points are second to Jordan's 1,977, and his 908 rebounds are first.

35. Wes Unseld -- He averaged 14 rebounds, clogged the middle defensively and helped the Bullets offense purr with his deft interior passing.

36. Derrick Coleman -- It wasn't his fault New Jersey lost two playoff series, as he averaged 24.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists in nine games -- all double-doubles except a 24-point, nine-rebound game. At one point in the 1993 series, Hot Rod Williams mentioned to a teammate that Coleman could really go to his left. The teammate replied, "Hot Rod, that's because he's left-handed."

37. Dominique Wilkins -- Averaged 24 points in 58 games. The Cavs had several good defenders, but just couldn't find a way to contain him.

38. Rudy Tomjanovich -- The Cavs had four pretty good teams from 1974-78, but they were just 9-12 against the Houston Rockets, in large part due to Rudy T's clutch scoring and rugged rebounding. He averaged 19.1 points in his career against Cleveland.

39. Tiny Archibald -- Whether he was with bad, average or powerful teams -- like the early 1980s Celtics -- he usually made the Cavs dizzy with his waterbug play, averaging 19 points and 7.7 assists and wreaking havoc at the defensive end.

40. Bob Lanier -- He averaged 19.3 points and did a lot of other good things in spite of the constant pain in his knees. Fans didn't feel sorry for him, especially after some rough-housing with beloved and aging center Nate Thurmond, whom he once got in a headlock -- and twisted.

Also considered: Rafer Alston, Carmelo Anthony, Rick Barry, Bruce Bowen, Adrian Dantley, Ricky Davis, Joe Dumars, Manu Ginobili, John Havlicek, Bernard King, Vernon Maxwell, Mikki Moore, Mike Newlin, Robert Parish, Tony Parker, John Paxson, Buck Williams.

Lenny Ignelzi / Associated PressAaron Laffey survived a bout of wildness in Tuesday's spring-training start against Seattle, and sought additional work in the bullpen after his two-inning appearance.

• Revamped Tribe roster a surprising sight for ex-Indian Ryan GarkoPEORIA, Ariz. -- Manny Acta says to get back to him in three weeks for an update on who's leading the race to be the fourth and fifth starters in the Indians' rotation. If you're not the patient type, here's a sneak preview.

On Tuesday, Aaron Laffey started and threw two scoreless innings against Seattle in a 6-4 victory. David Huff starts Wednesday against San Diego. Mitch Talbot starts against the White Sox on Thursday.

Laffey, Huff and Talbot. Those are the three pitchers going for two spots. The outcome of these three games won't decide the winners, but it's chance to take a look at what all three have to offer.

It was windy and cold Tuesday at Peoria Stadium. Laffey wasn't especially pleased with his performance. He threw too many pitches, 25 total, and not enough strikes, 13.

"I was able to get six outs and that's the most important thing," said Laffey. "I went down to the bullpen and threw about 20 more pitches with a batter standing there to get more work in."

Laffey has been through this spring drill before. He thought he had a job won last year, but the spot went to Scott Lewis. Former manager Eric Wedge and Laffey had words over the decision, but it all worked out.

Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerDavid Huff won more games in an Indians uniform that any other starter in 2009, but isn't considering himself a favorite for a rotation spot this spring.On April 15, Laffey arrived from Class AAA Columbus after Lewis was injured. He spent the rest of the season in the big leagues plugging holes in the rotation and the bullpen. It gave Laffey a chance to show his versatility, but probably contributed to spending over a month on the disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle.

Laffey went 7-9 with one save and a 4.44 ERA. He made 25 appearances, including 19 starts.

"I had a good year last year," said Laffey. "I was able to get out of a lot of jams and I created a lot of jams by walking too many people."

Laffey struck out 59 batters and walked 57. It's the wildest he's been in parts of three seasons with the Indians.

"They want me to be more consistent and they're 100 percent right," said Laffey. "I've got to hammer the strike zone more."

Laffey has changed the grip on his best pitch, the sinker, to help him do that. He's looking for a more north-to-south drop instead of the east to west movement he had last year. He thinks it will help him keep the sinker on the plate.

This will be Huff's second start. He threw two scoreless innings against Cincinnati over the weekend. Huff missed a chance to break camp with the Indians last spring because of biceps tendinitis in his left arm. It didn't slow him down.

He made his big-league debut on May 17 and went 11-8 to lead the Indians in victories as a rookie.

Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer“If I had stayed in Tampa Bay, I think I was headed (to the bullpen),” said right-hander Mitch Talbot. “I want to be a starter. That’s why I was really happy about the trade.”Asked if his performance last year gives him an edge, Huff said, "You'd have to ask Manny that. I'll go out and do what I can and hopefully win a spot."

Regarding balls and strikes, Huff had 65 strikeouts and 41 walks in 128 1/3 innings last year.

Talbot is the lone right-hander among the three candidates. The Indians acquired him from Tampa Bay on Dec. 20 for Kelly Shoppach.

"I was expecting to get traded," said Talbot. "And I'm happy about it."

Talbot is out of options. If he doesn't make the rotation, he could end up in the bullpen. It's not where he wants to be.

"If I had stayed in Tampa Bay, I think I was headed there," he said. "I want to be a starter. That's why I was really happy about the trade."

Talbot missed three months of last season with right elbow and right shoulder injuries. He was 4-4 with a 4.47 ERA in 10 starts at Class AAA Durham. He struck out 40 and walked 18.

"They just traded for me so I know they like what I've got," said Talbot, 26. "But Huff and Laffey are both really good pitchers. ... It's a competition."

Acta, like everyone else connected with the team, will be watching. Unlike everyone else, he'll be looking for more than wins and losses.

"These guys are still competing," he said, "but we're looking at execution and [these guys] trying to do what we've been preaching. They have to throw first-pitch strikes, work ahead and get their defense involved."