Dan Gilbert is no Nostradamus.

After LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach, the scorned Cavaliers owner promised Cleveland fans that his team would win the NBA title before James gets to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy for his new team, the Miami Heat.

Only if you live in a parallel universe.

With James, the Cavs won an NBA-best 61 games last season after winning 66 in 2008-09. Though they failed to reach the NBA Finals each year, at least they came agonizingly close after terrific regular seasons.

This year, without James, the Cavs are an NBA-worst 8-32 at the halfway mark. They've lost their last 13 games, and 23 of their last 24, with their only victory in the last six weeks coming in overtime against the Knicks. They scored just 57 points in a 55-point wipeout against the Lakers last week. And chances are, there will be a lot more losing than winning in Cleveland - not just this season, but maybe for years to come.

So this got us thinking. How many of these riches-to-rags stories are there? Turns out, there's plenty, especially since the dawn of free agency in the big four North American sports leagues. Sometimes with the departure of just a single athlete, the fortunes of an entire franchise could be wrecked overnight with no recovery in sight.

These, are the cautionary tales from just the past 20 years, from which Cleveland fans may need to gird themselves for. Our Top 10 Greatest Fall of Sports Franchises.