Nick Mileti, the previous Cleveland Cavaliers proprietor and founding father of the NBA franchise, died Wednesday on the age of 93, the crew introduced. In 1970, Mileti grew to become the founder and proprietor of the Cavaliers, paying $3.7 million for the enlargement crew.
The Cavaliers performed their first season within the NBA throughout the 1970-71 season. Mileti remained a part of the possession group till 1980, when he bought his 20 p.c stake within the crew for $1.4 million.
Cleveland Cavaliers went 305-434 and made the playoffs 3 times beneath founder and proprietor Nick Mileti
Throughout his tenure as crew proprietor, the Cavaliers posted a 305-434 (.413) file and made the playoffs 3 times. In 1975-76 season, the Cavs gained the convention semifinals matchup in opposition to Baltimore. Nonetheless, Cleveland went on to lose to the Boston Celtics within the convention finals.
That was the closest the Cavs got here to successful an NBA championship beneath Mileti’s management. “That was my largest remorse,” Mileti stated later, “not successful an NBA title.” He was inducted into the Cavaliers Wall of Honor in 2019.
The Richfield Coliseum was one other achievement for Mileti.
We’re saddened to be taught of the passing of Nick Mileti, the beloved founder whose ardour and imaginative and prescient ignited the spirit of Cavaliers basketball in our nice metropolis. A real pioneer on this planet of sports activities, Nick was not only a chief; he was a dreamer who reworked that dream into… pic.twitter.com/mw6QifgGEL
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 22, 2024
Since politicians had been divided over constructing a brand new area downtown, Mileti purchased land in Richfield, midway between Cleveland and Akron. He later accredited building designs for the Richfield Coliseum, the most important area within the nation on the time. It opened on Oct. 26, 1974.
In response to Cleveland.com’s Bob Dolgan, the Coliseum was bought out that first night time. A crowd of 21,082 purchased tickets for $25, $15, and $10. The seating capability for hockey was roughly 18,544.
The Coliseum served as the house of the Cavs till 1994, when the crew moved into what’s now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Ted Stepien was the proprietor on the time.
Joe Tait, the late play-by-play radio announcer for the Cavaliers, as soon as stated, “Nick was good for Cleveland. He did lots of issues with different folks’s cash, however a minimum of he did them. And so they had been good issues. He was good for a comparatively quick time and burned out.”
Mileti additionally owned the MLB’s then-Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League, and different groups
One other group Nick Mileti headed bought the MLB’s then-Cleveland Indians in 1972 for $10 million from Vernon Stouffer. His partnership that purchased the Indians included Howard Metzenbaum and Ted Bonda.
In late 1972, Mileti fashioned Ohio Communications with veteran radio government Tom Embrescia, which acquired WKYC AM/1100 and FM/105.7 from NBC. They had been renamed “3WE” WWWE-AM and “M105” WWWM-FM.
Mileti then moved the radio play-by-play rights for the Indians and Cavaliers, along with sports activities discuss host Pete Franklin’s Sportsline, to WWWE.
Moreover, Mileti additionally based and was the principal proprietor of the short-lived CFL crew, the Las Vegas Posse, in 1994. He owned the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Affiliation as effectively.
Throughout his retirement, he printed three books: Closet Italians: A Dazzling Assortment of Illustrious Italians with Non-Italian Names (2004), Past Michaelangelo: The Lethal Rivalry between Borromini and Bernini (2005), and The Unscrupulous: Scams, Cons, Fakes & Frauds that Poison the High-quality Arts (2009).
