2. Four Owners in Nine Weeks
Nick Mileti had been the team’s majority owner of the Cavaliers since their inception, but on February 4, 1980, he sold the team to Columbus businessman Louis Mitchell, who had been a major stockholder in the team. On March 13, Mitchell sold his 37 percent of the team to Joe Zingale, Mileti’s cousin.
On April 12, Zingale sold his share of the team to Ted Stepien, who was so desperate that he paid the $2.3 milion that Zingale had asked for, allowing owner No. 3 to make a $900,000 profit in one month.
Some ethical questions about Zingale’s “ownership” of the team linger to this day, but in the end, the fans were the people who really lost out. Stepien’s three-year ownership was a total disaster and nearly destroyed the franchise. The clearest indication of how bad it was comes in what became known as the Stepien Rule: after the Cavs traded away multiple first round picks for mediocre players, the NBA instituted a rule that said a team couldn’t trade first round selections in consecutive years.
Next: What Might Have Been
