5 of 6

Write now Article Tools

The Cleveland Cavaliers franchise began play in 1970, as an expansion team in the still-relatively young National Basketball Association (NBA).

The first incarnation of the "Cavs", as they are popularly known, saw Nick Mileti as owner, and storied college coach Bill Fitch as head coach.

However, as with most fledgling franchises in professional sport right around the globe, Cleveland didn't enjoy first-up success.

In fact their inaugural season could be said to be somewhat of a disaster, with a 15-67 win-loss record.

Due to this poor record, the Cavs were awarded the number one pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and chose Notre Dame superstar Austin Carr.

Unfortunately for the Cavs, Carr injured his leg badly shortly into his professional career, and never really recovered.

The next few seasons, the Cavs improved somewhat, without setting the world on fire, before slightly stepping back during the 1973-74 season.

It was at this time that the Cavs left their initial home, Cleveland Arena, for the new purpose-built Richfield Coliseum.

Their first season in their new home was a relatively good one, the team going 40-42 for the season and just missing a berth in the playoffs.

In 1975-76, the Cavs enjoyed their first taste of playoffs basketball.

The Cavs went 49-33 during the season, and won the division title.

They defeated the Washington Bullets in the first round of the playoffs, but then came up against the might of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, whom the Cavs were no match for.

Playoffs berths ensued for the next two seasons, however both resulted in first-round exits.

In 1978-79, the Cavs dropped a few notches, going 30-52, resulting in Fitch resigning, replaced by Stan Albeck.

The following season, the Cavs didn't improve much, and majority owner Mileti sold his shares to minority owner Joe Zingale.

The new decade saw more upheavel at Cleveland, with Zingale soon selling his stake to Nationwide Advertising svengali Ted Stepien.

This proved a decisive move in Cleveland history, but for all the wrong reasons.

Stepien continually hired and fired a succession of head coaches, whilst trading away many of the Cavs first-round draft picks.

This actually caused the NBA to bring in a rule prohibiting teams from trading away first-round draft picks in consecutive years, popularly known as the "Ted Stepien Rule".

Other unpopular mooted moves Stepien tried to put in place were to rename the team the "Ohio Cavaliers", and have them playing home games out of state, including

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about NBA team profile: Cleveland Cavaliers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!