Cavaliers win

[BD Sullivan]

The last Cleveland pro basketball championship was in 1962. In 1962 the Cleveland Pipers of the new American Basketball League, won the championship. They had one of the best players in this new league, Dick Barnett. Bevo Francis was also on the team. The league was an Abe Saperstein project. The Pipers were owned by George Steinbrenner.

The league only lasted this one 1961-62 season. It was a precursor to the ABA.

They could be added to the list here, since John McClendon began as the coach and quit because of continued interference from Steinbrenner--shocking to hear, I know. McClendon was replaced by Bill Sharman, who had been coaching the league's Los Angeles franchise that had just folded.

[Saban1]

The last Cleveland pro basketball championship was in 1962. In 1962 the Cleveland Pipers of the new American Basketball League, won the championship. They had one of the best players in this new league, Dick Barnett. Bevo Francis was also on the team. The league was an Abe Saperstein project. The Pipers were owned by George Steinbrenner.

The league only lasted this one 1961-62 season. It was a precursor to the ABA.

They could be added to the list here, since John McClendon began as the coach and quit because of continued interference from Steinbrenner--shocking to hear, I know. McClendon was replaced by Bill Sharman, who had been coaching the league's Los Angeles franchise that had just folded.

Sharman turned out to be a pretty good coach in the NBA as well. Maybe he learned a few things from Red.

[rhickok1109]

The last Cleveland pro basketball championship was in 1962. In 1962 the Cleveland Pipers of the new American Basketball League, won the championship. They had one of the best players in this new league, Dick Barnett. Bevo Francis was also on the team. The league was an Abe Saperstein project. The Pipers were owned by George Steinbrenner.

The league only lasted this one 1961-62 season. It was a precursor to the ABA.

They could be added to the list here, since John McClendon began as the coach and quit because of continued interference from Steinbrenner--shocking to hear, I know. McClendon was replaced by Bill Sharman, who had been coaching the league's Los Angeles franchise that had just folded.

Sharman turned out to be a pretty good coach in the NBA as well. Maybe he learned a few things from Red.

He's one of only four people in the Basketball HOF as a player and a coach. And he was pretty good in the front office, too, overseeing five Laker championships.

[74_75_78_79_]

Has any other major professional sports team won a championship while switching coaches mid-season? Actually, as I type this, I just thought of the 1961 Oilers. Any others?

Also the 1971 Canadiens and 2016 Penguins.

1978 Yankees.

Bob Lemon...just about everyone is quick to point out how opposing both Billy Martin and Joe Torre were. Well, in '78, Bob Lemon was Joe Torre. Laid-back, non-dramatic; just what the Dr. ordered (if only for that half-season) after the (Bronx) 'Zoo' that was going on the past year and a half. Just what was needed to complete the repeat.

Golden State reminds me of Carolina. No, Panthers weren't defending-Champs, but were certainly the regular-season STUDS finishing at 15-1. But then came the playoffs and the allowing Seattle to rally from 31-0 down to 31-24 had to offer a 'hint'. Same with Warriors allowing Thunder to get up 3-1 in the first place, losing 4 games already in the post-season when they lost nine total the entire 82-game regular-season. Can't help but to link those two as far as 2016 (calendar-year-wise) in sports is concerned.

As for the City of Cleveland...CONGRATS! Waited long enough. #32 should be smiling. Changing the subject a tad...why never an NHL team (making it a FOUR-sports city)? Blue-collar, cold-weather. It's a hockey town, right?

[Rupert Patrick]

Golden State reminds me of Carolina. No, Panthers weren't defending-Champs, but were certainly the regular-season STUDS finishing at 15-1. But then came the playoffs and the allowing Seattle to rally from 31-0 down to 31-24 had to offer a 'hint'. Same with Warriors allowing Thunder to get up 3-1 in the first place, losing 4 games already in the post-season when they lost nine total the entire 82-game regular-season. Can't help but to link those two as far as 2016 (calendar-year-wise) in sports is concerned.

As for the City of Cleveland...CONGRATS! Waited long enough. #32 should be smiling. Changing the subject a tad...why never an NHL team (making it a FOUR-sports city)? Blue-collar, cold-weather. It's a hockey town, right?

Two points. First, this has a been a tough twelve months for sports fans in the Carolinas as we've lost three major championship games in Clemson losing the NCAA College Football title game, Carolina losing the Super Bowl, and North Carolina losing the NCAA mens college basketball championship. Two of them, Clemson and Carolina, were more or less Cinderella team situations where the team came out of nowhere, and they came up short at the end.

Secondly, Cleveland had an NHL franchise in the mid late 70's, the Barons. I don't follow hockey much but the only reason I remember this is I did collect hockey cards sporadically as a kid and remember the Cleveland Barons. I've always thought certain cities could support a team in a sport they don't already have, such as Pittsburgh would support an NBA team, as an example, as the sports fans are quite fanatical there. Pittsburgh did have an ABA team, the Pipers if I remember correctly, and I believe they won the first ABA title over New Orleans and the team then disbanded or moved away.

[BD Sullivan]

As for the City of Cleveland...CONGRATS! Waited long enough. #32 should be smiling. Changing the subject a tad...why never an NHL team (making it a FOUR-sports city)? Blue-collar, cold-weather. It's a hockey town, right?

For two years (1976-78), they did have an NHL team, the former California Golden Seals. The perfect storm (literally) theory can explain part of the reason the concept didn't work. Two back-to-back brutal winters made it unappetizing to watch a mediocre team play in an arena (Richfield Coliseum) that was in the middle of nowhere. Plus, the enthusiasm for the other occupant of that arena (Cavaliers) drowned out any remaining enthusiasm. That first year, the Cavs were coming off their most successful year ever. where they had made it to the conference finals.

Prior to that, the AHL minor league Barons had been very popular, but the arrival of the Cavaliers and especially the WHA Crusaders in 1972 killed off that interest. When the Crusader buzz died off after four years, the NHL Barons moved in.