Nike Mileti, who founded and owned the Cavaliers and other Cleveland teams, has died, his family told Dan Coughlin of Fox 8 News. He was 93.
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Mileti died Wednesday morning, Fox 8 reported. A native of Cleveland and former attorney, Mileti founded the Cavs in 1970, paying a $3.7 million expansion fee to enter the NBA.
A few years prior, he bought the Cleveland Barons hockey team and the old Cleveland Arena, followed by baseball's Cleveland Indians, as well as the Cleveland Crusaders, another hockey team.
Along with all that, Mileti purchased land in Richfield to build the legendary Coliseum, which he also owned, in 1974. It opened with a Frank Sinatra concert on Oct. 26, 1974 — and went on to deliver cherished Cavs eras such as The Miracle of Richfield, and the late 1980s/early '90s teams featuring Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Larry Nance and coach Lenny Wilkens.
"I want to have fun, make some dough, and leave a few footprints," he told sportswriter Bob Oates of the Los Angeles Times in 1972.
The Cavaliers presented Mileti with a championship ring after the franchise won its first and only title in 2016.
"The Cavaliers came the closest of any of Mileti's sports franchises to winning a title," Larry Pantages of the Akron Beacon Journal wrote in August 2021. "They made the NBA playoffs for the first time in 1975-76 and won an exciting seven-game series against the Washington Bullets before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
"The 16-day odyssey from April 13-29 became known as 'The Miracle of Richfield' and took on legendary status in fans' memories during a period of dark times for the Browns and the Cleveland baseball club.
"If star forward Jim Chones had not suffered a broken foot and been unable to play, some experts said the Cavs could have defeated the Celtics and might have been favored in the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns. But it was not to be."
Mileti penned a letter thanking fans in the 1976-77 souvenir game program.
"You have become a legend in your own time," he wrote."You are the standard by which all basketball crowds are now measured. Everyone associated with the Cavaliers is proud of you and your most important role ... helping the team on its way to the championship and putting the word PRIDE back into the vocabulary of Northeast Ohio."
In June 1980, Mileti sold the Cavs to eventual infamous owner Ted Stepien.
"Mileti eventually left Cleveland in 1979 for Beverly Hills, where he produced and financed plays and movies, then he made his way back to Northeast Ohio," wrote Lou Maglio of Fox 8.
(This article originally appeared on Hoops Wire and was republished with permission.)
