Former Cavaliers Owner Ted Stepien Dies at Age 82

There is fame, and there is notoriety. Former Cleveland Cavaliers Owner Ted Stepien who passed?away Monday after a battle with cancer longed to be famous. Unfortunately when you are known as the man who almost destroyed the Cleveland Cavaliers during your ownership you end up becoming notorious. Stepien was such a meddlesome owner, that a rule was instituted called the “Stepien Rule”. The NBA forbids teams from trading first round draft picks in consecutive years. The reason the rule was put into place was to protect owners in effect from themselves, Stepien with his hands on ownership almost decimated the future?for the franchise.

Stepien who bought the team?in 1980?named Bill Musselman as coach. Within a series of weeks the two of them had concocted a series of trades saddling the team with a bunch of journeyman players, and had given up four consecutive number one draft picks. Hence the league stepping in and instituting the rule. Stepien had caused sparks by saying in an interview in 1979 before he had purchased the team that the Cavaliers had too many African American players. He said that if he owned the franchise, half the players would be white because that’s what fans wanted to see. He then said he was not racist(Isn’t it funny that people who make the most inflammatory statements about ethnicity, always say they are not racist?)

Stepien who made his fortune starting a successful Cleveland advertising agency, seemed to be one of those guys that wanted to be bigger than he was. His tenure with the Cavaliers, was dismal he ended up selling the team to the Gund brothers in 1983. The adulation he desired, never materialized.