Ted Stepien facts for kids

Theodore John Stepien (born June 9, 1925 – died September 10, 2007) was an American businessman. He was best known for owning the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1983. Ted Stepien was born in Pittsburgh in 1925. He became very successful after starting his own company, Nationwide Advertising Service.

His time as owner of the Cavaliers was quite eventful. The team often struggled, and he made many changes to the coaching staff. His decisions even led the NBA to create a special rule, now called the "Ted Stepien rule." This rule limits how teams can trade their future draft picks. After selling the Cavaliers in 1983, he stayed involved in professional basketball. He owned teams in other leagues and later started the United Pro Basketball League. Ted Stepien passed away in 2007.

Ted Stepien's Early Business Life

Ted Stepien started his company, Nationwide Advertising Service, in 1947. He began with only $500. By 1980, his business was making over $80 million each year.

His Time in Professional Softball

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, professional softball leagues became popular in the United States. These leagues grew from the success of amateur softball.

The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was one of the first. It started in 1977. Ted Stepien bought a team in this league called the Cleveland Jaybirds in 1978. He later changed their name to the Cleveland Stepien's Competitors.

In 1980, Stepien helped create a new league called the North American Softball League (NASL). He owned six of the eight teams in this new league. The NASL only lasted one season. During this time, Stepien held a special event in Cleveland. He dropped softballs from the 52nd floor of Terminal Tower. The balls were traveling very fast, and some even damaged cars.

Later, in 1981, the APSPL and NASL joined together to form the United Professional Softball League (UPSL). Ted Stepien's Cleveland Competitors team played in the UPSL in 1982. This league also ended after the 1982 season.

Owning an NBA Team

Ted Stepien first bought a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers in mid-1980. He paid $2 million for 200,000 shares, which gave him 38% of the team. Over the next few months, he bought more shares. Eventually, he owned 82% of the team.

Coaching Changes and Team Performance

When Stepien took over, he hired Bill Musselman as the head coach. Musselman had a record of 25 wins and 46 losses with the Cavaliers before Stepien fired him.

Stepien's time as owner was marked by many coaching changes. During the 1981–82 season alone, he fired three head coaches and hired four different people for the job. This included Don Delaney, Bob Kloppenburg, Chuck Daly, and even Musselman again.

The team's performance was often poor. Fans in Cleveland became very unhappy with Stepien. The team was sometimes jokingly called the "Cleveland Cadavers." Many fans showed up to the last home game of the 1981 season to support a fired announcer and to show their dislike for Stepien.

The "Ted Stepien Rule"

One of the most famous parts of Stepien's ownership was his trading of draft picks. At one point, the Cavaliers traded away five first-round draft picks in a row, from 1982 to 1985.

Because of these trades, the NBA created a new rule. It's known as the "Stepien Rule." This rule generally stops teams from trading their first-round draft pick in two years in a row. However, there's a small way around this rule. A team can trade a first-round pick if it's not their own pick, but one they got from another team.

For example, in a big trade between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets, the Nets traded away their first-round picks for several years. They also swapped picks in one year, which meant the Celtics ended up with the first overall pick in that draft.

After Stepien traded several first-round picks to the Dallas Mavericks in 1980, the NBA temporarily stopped the Cavaliers from making any more trades. This was to prevent him from giving away more future picks. The league later allowed trades again, but they had to be approved by the league's director of operations.

Stepien himself admitted, "We made mistakes, and I take the responsibility." He wanted the team to be a playoff team right away.

Selling the Cavaliers

During Stepien's ownership, fewer and fewer fans came to Cavaliers games. This was because the team played poorly and Stepien made many unpopular decisions. He even thought about changing the team's name to the "Ohio Cavaliers." He also considered playing some home games in other cities like Pittsburgh or Toronto. He even threatened to move the team to Toronto and rename them the Toronto Towers.

On April 7, 1983, Stepien agreed to sell his part of the Cavaliers to George and Gordon Gund for $20 million. The sale also included his advertising company and a new TV station. The NBA officially approved the sale a month later. The league also arranged for the Gunds to pay money for new first-round draft picks for the next four years. This was to help the team get back the picks Stepien had traded away.

The Gunds decided to keep the team in Cleveland. (Years later, Toronto did get its own NBA team, the Toronto Raptors.) During Ted Stepien's time as owner, the Cavaliers had a record of 66 wins and 180 losses. They also had five different coaches and lost about $15 million.

After Owning the Cavaliers

After selling the Cavaliers, Ted Stepien continued to be involved in basketball. He became the first owner of the Toronto Tornados in the Continental Basketball Association. He also owned a team in the Global Basketball Association in the early 1990s.

In 2003, Stepien started a new league called the United Pro Basketball League (UPBL). This league had four teams. Stepien also opened special private dining rooms in Cleveland called "Competitors Clubs." His professional softball teams were named "Competitors" to help promote these restaurants.

Ted Stepien passed away in 2007 from a heart attack.