Gordon Gund

The Gunds purchased the Cavaliers for $20 million in 1983, kept the team in Cleveland, and drafted LeBron James in 2003.

Gordon Gund (born October 15, 1939) is an American businessman and professional sports owner. He is the CEO of Gund Investment Corporation. He is the former co-owner of the San Jose Sharks (National Hockey League) from 1992 to 2002, former principal owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association) from 1983 to 2005, and former principal owner of the Cleveland Rockers (Women's National Basketball Association) from 1997 to 2003. Gund lost his sight to retinitis pigmentosa and was a co-founder of Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Quick Facts

Born

15 October 1939

Birthplace

Cleveland, Ohio

Education

M.A. Harvard University

Occupation

businessman
sports entrepreneur
sports franchise owner
investment corporation

Children

Parents

George Gund II; Jessica Laidlaw Roesler

Relatives

George Gund III (brother)
Agnes Gund (sister)
Graham Gund (brother)

Lore & Background

The Gunds purchased majority interest in the Cleveland Cavaliers from Ted Stepien for $20 million on April 7, 1983. Stepien's Nationwide Advertising Service, Inc. and new cable television station Sports Exchange were also part of the sale. The transaction was approved by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors one month later on May 9. 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. They succeeded in keeping the team in Cleveland, Ohio and at Richfield Coliseum, which they also owned. Stepien had threatened to move the team to Toronto. The Gund's replaced the team's logo and uniform design, replacing the 'swashbuckling swordsman' with the team's nickname of 'Cavs' with a stylized 'V' made of a net and basketball.

Reader's Guide

Under the Gund's ownership, attendance figures started to rise, and the Cavs enjoyed a period of competitiveness on the basketball court. In the 1994–95 season, Gund Arena was built and replaced the Coliseum, and attendance figures stayed high. According to the Cavs' media guide, the Cavs had the highest attendance figures in franchise history in 15 of the last 16 seasons, heading into the 2004–05 season. His most notable achievement in the final years of his ownership was drafting high school prodigy and Akron, Ohio native LeBron James with the first-overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, a move which helped rejuvenate interest among the fan base.

In 2005, Gund sold controlling interest of the team to Quicken Loans founder and billionaire Dan Gilbert, maintaining a minority ownership stake for himself. Gund has an NBA championship to his credit via his status as minority owner of the team during the 2015–16 title-winning season. In April 2021, Gund's minority share was also bought by Gilbert.

Did You Know?

The Gunds purchased the Cavaliers for $20 million, not $22 million.
The NBA arranged for the Gunds to pay cash for first-round picks in each of the next four drafts to recover picks traded away by Stepien; the picks were not kept via cash payments under the Stepien Rule.
The logo introduced in 1983 was a stylized 'V' made of a net and basketball, not a 'C' with a sword through it.