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Dan Gilbert's boldness stunned many NBA executives. The Cavs' owner is willing to spend big money despite two major concerns: 1) The team's season-ticket base will drop 2) A lockout and canceled games could hurt financially Gilbert's approach is to spend while others cut. It's why he didn't immediately throw a lot of cash around after James left. Instead, he and General Manager Chris Grant decided to wait until more teams were desperate to make trades. The Clippers refused to even consider parting with their pick until Wednesday evening at 6:30. Many other deals went right to the deadline -- when some teams realized it was time to make cost-cutting deals.

i said it before, i'll say it again..one of the best owner in sports...dedicated to do whatever it takes to turn the team back around

Lol @ one of the best owners in Sports. n*gga C'mon.

Gilbert is a Pistons fan at heart though.

O_nasty said: i said it before, i'll say it again..one of the best owner in sports...dedicated to do whatever it takes to turn the team back around

wtf are u serious best owner ??? cmon fam even u dont beleive that

Santoro said: Lol @ one of the best owners in Sports. n*gga C'mon.

I don't hate the Cavs but that was probably the worst post-Lebron statement I've heard on this site. Best owner in sports by what measure?? Because he had the best player in basketball and wasn't able to put a legitimate star next to him for 7-8 years OR win a single game in the finals.

good luck getting any of the top free agents to play in Cleveland

O_nasty said: i said it before, i'll say it again..one of the best owner in sports...dedicated to do whatever it takes to turn the team back around

damn they got swept in the Finals? i didn't recall that

pretty bad LeBron. not even one game? coulda swore they at least got one but that's hilarious.

O_nasty said: i said it before, i'll say it again..one of the best owner in sports...dedicated to do whatever it takes to turn the team back around

j.j. hickson for amare stoudemire

how is he not...going by the standards at which you hold a owner to?

he bought the cavs...upgraded everything from the arena, seats...built a mega million dollar practice facility

he's never hesitated to spend more money and go over luxury tax.....he did it when he had lebron , and he's still willing to do it when we've won only 10 games...just to put us in a better position to get a better team

beantown said: I don't hate the Cavs but that was probably the worst post-Lebron statement I've heard on this site. Best owner in sports by what measure?? Because he had the best player in basketball and wasn't able to put a legitimate star next to him for 7-8 years OR win a single game in the finals.

wasn't lebron was a fraud and paxson traded away draft pick after draft pick by the time he bought the team

Top 5 worst owners in sports

it's funny....because if you go look at the lists

gilbert makes top 5 best

and dolan makes top 5 worst

in all of them



in sports? maybe it's a reach....sure...nuggas wanna be sheep and hate on the cavs...go ahead...the facts back up the claim, nuggas are stupid...desperate to be good again? i don't see where the cavs have made any desperate moves...only moves to help build for the future and build through the draft

Gilbert will commit that in these next few months. We all know white people don't take kindly to losing obscene with amount money. Homeboy just gonna snap one day like "Honey get the kids".

He is actually #5 on the SI/Forbes list

Five Best NBA Owners

5 Dan Gilbert Cleveland Cavaliers
Purchased 2005
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$375M $477M 211-117 .643 4 0
In 2005, Gilbert inherited a woeful franchise. The lottery-doomed Cavs were riding a six-year playoff drought, but they did have a draw in a rookie named LeBron James from nearby Akron. After a rough start to his tenure, Gilbert began a process that included surrounding his marquee star with complementary talent, adding an able GM in former Cavalier Danny Ferry and installing a players' coach in Mike Brown. Cleveland made the playoffs in 2006 and hasn't looked back since. A year later, Gilbert funded a state-of-the-art $25 million practice facility for King James & Co. that is among the best in the NBA.


4 Les Alexander Houston Rockets
Purchased 1993
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$85M $469M 722-558 .564 11 2
Alexander's reign in Houston is noted for two championships and a perennial playoff squad that has had only three losing seasons in his 16 years. And while most owners are more or less content to fill their stadiums, Alexander is driven by the desire for hardware, and he's willing to take big Wall Street-like gambles to get there. Not many owners would have gambled so heavily to bring in high-maintenance stars like Ron Artest or Tracy McGrady, trading away key players to get them. Alexander now runs the epitome of a streamlined organization as well: a star-driven team that just clocks in under the luxury-tax threshold, and a financial envy of a franchise that prompted Forbes to name Alexander as the NBA's best owner in December.


3 Mark Cuban Dallas Mavericks
Purchased 2000
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$285M $466M 508-230 .688 9 0
Cuban rubs plenty of people the wrong way with his outspokenness and need to be the center of attention. But then you realize, if you suddenly struck it rich and bought your own NBA team, you'd probably be as giddy and fun-loving as he is. The dot-com billionaire has never been shy with his checkbook, gladly paying over the luxury tax to keep the Mavs competitive -- and for the luxury of letting his own mouth flap despite countless fines for criticizing officials. He tends to put his foot in his mouth (his comment to Kenyon Martin's mother that her son was a thug after Game 3 of the Mavs-Nuggets playoff series was deplorable), but he's a player's owner as much as he is a fan's owner and has generally been a breath of fresh air.


2 Peter Holt San Antonio Spurs
Purchased 1993
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$75M $415M 865-415 .676 15 4
No NBA owner has done more with less. Holt maintains a fiscally responsible franchise that keeps its payroll in the middle of the pack with a cast of team-first, contract-second style players, led by an unwavering coach in Gregg Popovich. The Spurs zeitgeist is one that values hard work, sacrifice and lack of ego, and everyone in the organization has bought into it, thanks in no small part to the cues of steady-as-a-rock franchise cornerstone Tim Duncan. Holt is also one of the few NBA owners who are extremely respected in their communities as the consummate class act. The result is a team that has won four championships and has made the playoffs in 15 years of Holt's 16 as owner.



1 Jerry Buss Los Angeles Lakers
Purchased 1979
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$67.5M $584M 1,606-822 .661 28 8
In retrospect, Lakers fans almost feel silly for calling Buss onto the carpet for dealing Shaquille O'Neal and putting up with Kobe Bryant's repeated trade requests. All is well in Lakerland again, as the organization has rebuilt itself into what may be the third dynasty of Buss' tenure. The Lakers made the postseason for the 28th time during Buss' 31 years. They've also won more than 60 games eight times, not to mention eight championships in 14 NBA Finals appearances. Beneath all that glitz and glamour is an organization that clings fast to its tradition: Magic Johnson is a part-owner, Mitch Kupchak is the GM and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw are a.ssistant coaches.


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O_nasty said: it's funny....because if you go look at the lists gilbert makes top 5 best and dolan makes top 5 worst in all of them in sports? maybe it's a reach....sure...nuggas wanna be sheep and hate on the cavs...go ahead...the facts back up the claim, nuggas are stupid...desperate to be good again? i don't see where the cavs have made any desperate moves...only moves to help build for the future and build through the draft

100% correct!

People who think he isn't either dont know the sport or they are 12 and need to be in school. SMH by people thinking they know what a good owner is.

Good Post!

Funny how n*ggas keep saying good luck getting free agents there. I'm not a Cavs fan at all but I guarantee you it will be good free agents that sign there. They may not get a best player in the league type free agent but they will get the next level and below. Money is way more important to the majority of the players in the league and if the Cavs can throw out 10, 15 or 20 million more than another team is offering those guys will sign.

Plus they are laced with 1st round picks(theirs and others) for the next 3 or 4 years. They will get good young guys as well. You guys gotta stop believing everything you see and hear on tv. They always say the Clippers wont sign guys or even be considered destinations but check their recent history. Even Kobe wanted to go there

Oh and for those who wonder who the worst are...

Five Worst NBA Owners

5 R. Johnson/M. Jordan Charlotte Bobcats
Purchased 2004
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$300M $284M 144-266 .417 0 0
The Bobcats' two principle owners should stick to what they know best. Robert Johnson (pictured) made himself into a billionaire with his expert crafting of Black Entertainment Television. And Michael Jordan -- well, he's Michael Jordan. But what they're doing in Charlotte defies logic. For two guys with a combined net worth of more than most NBA owners, there's no reason the Bobcats should be so under-funded every year. They've been in the bottom of the league in payroll in each of their five seasons. Why Johnson and Jordan can't provide more from their deep pockets is still a mystery.


4 Chris Cohan Golden State Warriors
Purchased 1991
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$130M $335M 590-854 .409 3 0
Under Cohan's ownership, Golden State set a record drought of missing out on the postseason for 12 straight years until it reached the playoffs and shocked No. 1 seed Dallas in 2007. But since then it's been back to the status quo for the Warriors, who are stuck in what seems like an everlasting rebuilding mode. In the meantime, Cohan looks almost foolish for sticking with Don Nelson -- a guy he once sued for leaving the club for the Knicks during his first go-around -- now just an outdated dinosaur who openly admits the game is passing him by.



3 Michael Heisley Memphis Grizzlies
Purchased 2000
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$160M $294M 286-452 .388 3 0
The billionaire was eager to move the team after promising not to leave Vancouver when he bought it. Since then it's been a lot of thrift city. Heisley has not allowed the Grizzlies to go anywhere near the luxury-tax threshold in the last few seasons. This season, they flirted with a third straight 60-loss finish, and nothing has drawn the ire of fans and owners across the league like the salary dump of Pau Gasol last season to the Lakers. "What do they want me to spend, $100 million?" he barked at the Memphis Commercial Appeal in '06. "The point is we're out-spending San Antonio and we're out-spending Phoenix. So the point is whether you're spending money means squat." Guess the playoffs mean squat, too.


2 Cablevision/James Dolan New York Knicks
Purchased 1997
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$300M $613M 418-534 .439 7 0
Subterfuging two of the most storied franchises in pro sports at once takes hard work, but Dolan has managed both. The business tycoon took a controlling stake in Cablevision in 1999, and immediately both of his marquee sports properties -- the Knicks and the NHL's Rangers -- tailspun into the most futile eras of their respective histories. The Knicks have been particularly bad, with eight straight seasons of less than 40 wins and one playoff appearance. Most embarrassing was Dolan's stubborn loyalty to Isiah Thomas who, in his 4 1/2 years with the team, failed miserably in his countless attempts to retool the roster, including continuing Dolan's habit of grossly overpaying for oft-injured and underperforming stars like Stephon Marbury.


1 Donald T. Sterling Los Angeles Clippers
Purchased 1981
Purchase Price Current Value W-L Winning % Playoffs Championships
$12.5M $297M 773-1,491 .341 4 0
There is no American sports franchise more a.ssociated with futility than the Clippers, who have posted only two winning seasons under Sterling's ownership. Marquee players have come and gone -- including Danny Manning, Dominique Wilkins, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand and Baron Davis -- and none has been able to turn around the losing tradition. Though they've achieved some level of stability in the past few years -- notoriously cheap Sterling has cracked his checkbook a tiny bit, and Mike Dunleavy is now the longest-tenured coach in franchise history -- the team is mired in its old losing ways, eclipsing 60 losses for the eighth time under Sterling.


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FrostyNug24 said: good luck getting any of the top free agents to play in Cleveland

I agree

Now a new list was just released by Forbes has the Rockets owner as #1. Yao was a bust but the Chinese still spend with him so that makes him #1 but I guess that's wrond too.