Theodore John Stepien (June 9, 1925 – September 10, 2007) was an American businessman who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1983.
A December 6, 1982 article in The New York Times described the Cavaliers during Stepien's ownership as "the worst club and most poorly run franchise in professional basketball.
[6] The APSPL was formed in 1977 by former World Football League front-office staffer Bill Byrne, with former New York Yankees star Whitey Ford as commissioner and owners such as Mike Ilitch with his Detroit Caesars club.
[11] The balls were estimated to be traveling at 144 mph by the time they reached the street, damaging cars and injuring several spectators.
Musselman, who coached the University of Minnesota to the 1972 Big Ten championship, the school's first in 53 years, compiled a 25–46 record with the Cavs before Stepien fired him.
The angry crowd used the occasion to not only show support for Tait, but also to voice their discontent over the fact that Stepien was staying behind to run the team.
[17] Over the course of the 1981–82 season alone, Stepien fired three head coaches and hired four: Don Delaney, who had taken over for Musselman with 11 games remaining in the 1980–81 season; assistant coach Bob Kloppenburg, who filled in for a game after Stepien relieved Delaney of his duties; Chuck Daly, who left the Philadelphia 76ers where he had been an assistant to take over as head coach of the Cavs, who went 9–32 with him at the helm; and Musselman, who returned to the bench after serving as the team's director of player personnel since being fired the previous season.
"[2] During his ownership, attendance at Cavaliers games began to sharply fall due to the team's poor play and Stepien's questionable moves.
Stepien thought about renaming the team the "Ohio Cavaliers" and playing portions of its home schedule in nearby non-NBA cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Toronto to increase the fan base.
He signed a deal to sell his majority interest in the Cavaliers to George and Gordon Gund for $20 million on April 7, 1983.
The league also arranged for the Gunds to pay a cash sum for a first-round selection in each of the subsequent four NBA drafts to recover the ones traded away by Stepien.
Early in 2003, Stepien founded the United Pro Basketball League (UPBL), which featured just four teams, including three in Kentucky (Lexington, Louisville, and Frankfort) and one in Mansfield, Ohio.