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the New York Knicks are 100 percent black. Teams with that kind of makeup can't possibly draw from a suitable cross section of fans." He also said that "blacks don't buy many tickets and they don't buy many of the products advertised on TV. Let's face it, running an NBA team is like running any other business and those kind of factors have to be considered." He described his
Cavaliers at that time — consisting of six whites and five blacks — as "a balanced team racially, and that's a good reflection on our society because it's balanced too." He described himself as "really big on desegregation" and "for a totally integrated society."
281:, who were a newly formed expansion team, in November 1980, the NBA froze Cleveland's trading rights to prevent him from giving up the team's picks for the rest of the 1980s and 1990s. The freeze was only in place for one season, being officially ended after the 1981–82 season, but all trades required the approval of the league's director of operations,
260:
At one point, the Cavs had traded away five consecutive first-round picks, covering 1982 until 1985. The NBA thereafter instituted the "Stepien Rule", which states that a team (usually) cannot trade its first-round pick in consecutive years. However, that rule has a loophole in that said first round
312:
for $ 20 million on April 7, 1983. His
Nationwide Advertising Service Inc. and new cable television station Sports Exchange were also part of the sale. The transaction was approved by the NBA Board of Governors one month later on May 9. The league also arranged for the Gunds to pay a cash sum for a
107:
in 1925, he became wealthy as the founder of
Nationwide Advertising Service and purchased an interest in the Cavaliers on April 12, 1980. His tenure as owner of the Cavs was highly controversial, resulting in multiple coaching changes and poor performances by the team, and his management decisions
269:
that sent Kevin
Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn. The Nets traded their first round picks in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 drafts in that deal, but also included a pick swap involving the Nets pick for the 2017 draft that ended up being for the first overall pick of the draft (which was later traded
215:
In an interview in
December 1980, Stepien said, "No team should be all white and no team should be all black, either. That's what bothers me about the NBA: You've got a situation here where blacks represent little more than 5 percent of the market, yet most teams are at least 75 percent black and
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in 1979. In 1980, two teams, Milwaukee and
Cleveland broke away to form the North American Softball League (NASL) under the leadership of Stepien, who owned six of the eight teams in the new league (only Ft. Wayne and Milwaukee had local ownership), while the APSPL continued with just six teams.
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During his ownership, attendance at
Cavaliers games began to sharply fall due to the team's poor play and Stepien's questionable moves. Stepien thought about renaming the team the "Ohio Cavaliers" and playing portions of its home schedule in nearby non-NBA cities such as
187:
In 1981, the APSPL merged with NASL to create the United
Professional Softball League (UPSL), but only the Milwaukee franchise came from the NASL to the new league as the other NASL teams folded. The merged league competed for two years and Stepien fielded the
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described the
Cavaliers during Stepien's ownership as "the worst club and most poorly run franchise in professional basketball." After selling his interest in the Cavaliers in 1983, he continued to be involved in professional basketball, owning teams in the
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where he had been an assistant to take over as head coach of the Cavs, who went 9–32 with him at the helm; and
Musselman, who returned to the bench after serving as the team's director of player personnel since being fired the previous season.
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was at an all-time low. The team was referred to locally and derisively at this time as the "Cleveland Cadavers". For the final home game of the 1981 season, the largest Cavaliers crowd in two years showed up to honor fired
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to be caught by outfielders from his Cleveland Competitors team. The balls were estimated to be traveling at 144 mph by the time they reached the street, damaging cars and injuring several spectators. One was caught.
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The actual rule is somewhat more nuanced. It only applies to drafts that occur after the trade. Also, a team can remain in compliance with the rule by acquiring a first-round pick that originally belonged to another
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and heap abuse on the Cavs' now-despised owner. The angry crowd used the occasion to not only show support for Tait, but also to voice their discontent over the fact that Stepien was staying behind to run the team.
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Stepien initially bought 200,000 shares for $ 2 million to give him a 38% interest in the Cavaliers in mid-1980. Over the next few months, Stepien continued until he eventually acquired 82% control of the team.
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The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was the first such league, launching in an era of experimentation in professional sports leagues. The APSPL was formed in 1977 by former
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to increase the fan base. He had also threatened to move the team to Toronto and rename them the Toronto Towers. He signed a deal to sell his majority interest in the Cavaliers to
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Musselman explained that Stepien "wanted a playoff team right away, and that's what he kept talking about." Stepien admitted that "We made mistakes, and I take the responsibility."
364:. Stepien also opened a series of private dining rooms called "Competitors Clubs" in Cleveland. His professional softball teams were named Competitors to promote the restaurants.
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began play). During his tenure as Cavaliers owner, the Cavaliers went 66–180, had five different coaches, and had losses of $ 15 million (about $ 45 million in 2023).
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to recover the ones traded away by Stepien. The Gunds elected to keep the team in Cleveland (12 years later, Toronto would get an NBA team via expansion when the
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Escalation of Commitment and the Effects of the Presence of an Alternative Investment, Magnitude of Loss and Monitoring: Stopping a Project which is 90% Complete
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The NASL lasted one season. In 1980, Stepien held a promotional event for the league in Cleveland in which he dropped softballs from the 52nd floor of
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to the 1972 Big Ten championship, the school's first in 53 years, compiled a 25–46 record with the Cavs before Stepien fired him.
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Stepien began Nationwide Advertising Service in 1947 with just $ 500. By 1980, it was generating over $ 80 million a year.
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Early in 2003, Stepien founded the United Pro Basketball League (UPBL), which featured just four teams, including three in
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were formed in the United States to build on the growth and talent in the booming men's amateur game during this period.
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again in the 1982 UPSL season. The UPSL disbanded after the 1982 season, ending the pro era of men's softball.
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pick can be any team's pick and not their team's own pick. This came to light in the now infamously lopsided
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The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers
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2003–07 as Founder and Commissioner of the United Pro Basketball League
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down by the Celtics to the third overall pick and was used to select
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Promotional video for the Cleveland Jaybirds from digital.hagley.org
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front-office staffer Bill Byrne, with former New York Yankees star
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806:"Celtics' 2013 fleecing of Nets led NBA to consider rule change"
571:"1977-1982 Cleveland Jaybirds / Cleveland Stepien's Competitors"
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474:"Slow-Pitch Pros Fast Becoming Favorites - The Washington Post"
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After Stepien dealt away several 1st round draft picks to the
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franchise for the 1978 APSPL season, changing the name to the
414:"Everything changes on the Cavaliers but the face of failure"
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After selling the Cavs, Stepien became founding owner of the
619:"Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien has paid $ 35,875 to"
494:"Pro Slo-Pitch Softball Debuts Sunday - The Washington Post"
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915:"Cleveland Stepien's Competitors - Ohio History Central"
847:"Gund agrees to sell Cavs to mortgage magnate Gilbert,"
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alone, Stepien fired three head coaches and hired four:
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United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
673:(December 24, 1980), page 6. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
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as the team's head coach. Musselman, who coached the
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Stepien intends to operate Cavs his way . . . or else
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first-round selection in each of the subsequent four
693:"Furor Raging In Cleveland Over Stepien's Cavaelier"
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585:"With This Team, He'd Better Have a Sense of Humor"
514:"Ludington Daily News - Google News Archive Search"
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147:During the late 1970s and early 1980s, several
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367:Stepien died of a heart attack in 2007.
605:"The Hour - Google News Archive Search"
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16:American sports businessman (1925–2007)
1432:Case Western Reserve University alumni
714:. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing.
274:) with the Nets picking 27th instead.
7:
1417:20th-century American businesspeople
891:. September 24, 2007. Archived from
162:as commissioner and owners such as
149:men's professional softball leagues
710:Menzer, Joe; Graeff, Burt (1994).
335:Continental Basketball Association
121:Continental Basketball Association
14:
1422:American people of Polish descent
831:"Stepien Selling The Cavaliers,"
219:By 1981, Stepien's popularity in
103:(NBA) from 1980 to 1983. Born in
412:Berkow, Ira (December 6, 1982).
204:On the court, Stepien installed
112:. A December 6, 1982 article in
775:Hahn, Alan (January 18, 2011).
176:Cleveland Stepien's Competitors
101:National Basketball Association
1407:Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
851:(AP), Monday, January 3, 2005.
750:. Gray & Company. p.
337:. He also owned a team in the
1:
1402:Businesspeople from Cleveland
941:1983 article from NYTimes.com
867:(UPI), Tuesday, May 10, 1983.
339:Global Basketball Association
125:Global Basketball Association
936:1982 article from lkwdpl.org
835:(AP), Friday, April 8, 1983.
559:. 3 August 1980. p. 53.
1412:Schenley High School alumni
712:Cavs From Fitch to Fratello
553:"Clipped from News-Journal"
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1392:Cleveland Cavaliers owners
1092:Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
869:Retrieved December 2, 2020
865:United Press International
853:Retrieved December 3, 2020
837:Retrieved December 2, 2020
170:club. Stepien bought the
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863:"Sale of Cavs Approved,"
452:. 2008. pp. 15–16.
81:1981–83 as owner of the
43:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
670:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
236:Over the course of the
210:University of Minnesota
131:area. He died in 2007.
1309:Cleveland sports curse
919:ohiohistorycentral.org
633:"Softball History USA"
1250:Golden State Warriors
691:(December 28, 1980).
190:Cleveland Competitors
156:World Football League
143:Professional softball
93:Theodore John Stepien
1276:Cavaliers AudioVerse
849:The Associated Press
833:The Associated Press
777:"The 2012 loophole?"
697:The Pittsburgh Press
637:Softball History USA
983:Cleveland Cavaliers
499:The Washington Post
479:The Washington Post
238:1981–82 season
97:Cleveland Cavaliers
83:Cleveland Cavaliers
1160:G League affiliate
1086:Richfield Coliseum
888:Sports Illustrated
419:The New York Times
254:Philadelphia 76ers
172:Cleveland Jaybirds
115:The New York Times
54:September 10, 2007
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1271:Bally Sports Ohio
1222:NBA championships
593:. 2 October 1994.
590:Los Angeles Times
535:"Detroit Caesars"
394:. April 14, 1980.
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78:Years active
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1314:Fred McLeod
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994:Founded in
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283:Joe Axelson
242:Don Delaney
164:Mike Ilitch
160:Whitey Ford
110:draft picks
23:Ted Stepien
1397:NBA owners
1376:Categories
1147:Head coach
1128:(minority)
1114:(majority)
371:References
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315:NBA drafts
298:Cincinnati
294:Pittsburgh
250:Chuck Daly
228:announcer
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689:Ryan, Bob
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