Unfortunately for the Cavs and Dan Gilbert, the historical record of activist team owners is not a good one.
UPDATED: 6:55 p.m.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has clearly taken the reins since the playoff season ended in disappointment for his franchise. History says his chances of ultimate success -- if he truly is the decision-maker in the front office -- is not that good, says Bill Livingston.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dan Gilbert, the man who used to be in the background with the Cavaliers, wrote the big checks for five years and got a cigar that blew up in his face for his case of writer's cramp.
Now, predictably, he is Dan Gilbert, action owner.
It is the natural impulse of a wealthy, successful man to roll up his sleeves and decide he can do better. The method of choice is usually for such an owner to put himself into the decision-making process, front and center. Not just first among equals, but firstest with the mostest.
The usual result of putting an owner in the middle of sports decisions, however, is more like putting a migraine in the middle of the head.
It is possible to catch lightning in a bottle once. But the encore becomes a problem. The model that works so well in private business seldom is valid for long in sports.
An action owner is not dissuaded by the discouraging history, however. Ego is a function of every owner in every sport, but it is most evident in wealthy men who made their own fortunes.
A generation ago, the Philadelphia 76ers owner was Harold Katz, who made his money selling dietary products. Katz promised Julius Erving, after Erving's third losing trip to the NBA Finals, that the next one would be different. The owner was a driving force in acquiring Moses Malone, who, some basketball experts felt, could not play in a running game.
Mark Cuban has dominated the headlines since taking over the Mavericks, but his team's ability to succeed in the league has pretty much matched Gilbert's Cavaliers.The Sixers won it all the next year, leading Katz to develop a doctrinal view of himself as infallible. A few years later, he set the Cavs up for years of contention by trading the No. 1 pick in the draft, which became Brad Daugherty, to Cleveland for Roy Hinson and assorted beads and trinkets. The same day he traded Malone for Jeff Ruland, ensuring that the Sixers would not return to The Finals for 15 years.
The contemporary analogy to the Cavs is the Dallas Mavericks. The link between the Dallas and Cleveland franchises is obvious in both their lack of results and the approaches of their owners, both of whom are self-made men.
The Mavericks' Mark Cuban became a billionaire through his Internet company. Gilbert made his money through his mortgage-lending company. Both took over franchises that had become irrelevant and helped lead them to their finest hours.
Both have lone superstar-driven teams, with the Cavs' LeBron James and the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki. Both the Cavs and Mavs have been to one NBA Finals. Neither hoisted the trophy.
Their superstars have won three of the last four MVP awards. In Nowitzki's year, 2006-07, the Mavs went out in the first round in a huge upset. In James' reign, spanning the last two seasons, the Cavs have lost in the conference final in an upset and in the second round in a huge upset.
Gilbert does not sit next to the Cavs' bench or listen in on the huddles during games. He is not bombastic either. Cuban is all of those things. But both have written blank checks for talent acquisition in a fruitless search for the right satellites to surround each team's sun.
The Cavs have brought in aging stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison. The Mavs have brought in aging stars like Jason Kidd and Antoine Walker.
The Cavs, under pressure as soon as Gilbert took over to prove to James they were serious about contending, have given bad contracts to players like Larry Hughes and, in the long term, Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Mavs have given bad contracts to Keith Van Horn, Erick Dampier and Tariq Abdul-Wahad.
Former GM Danny Ferry managed the Cavs' salaries better than Dallas did and managed to shed some of the contracts. But Ferry is no longer here.
The Cavs have gone through coaches Paul Silas, whom Gilbert quickly fired, and Mike Brown. They are currently asking prospective coaches to buy a pig in a poke because no one knows if James will be back or not. The Mavs have run through Don Nelson and Avery Johnson and now have Rick Carlisle as their coach.
Both the Cavs and Mavs play before capacity home crowds, win 50, 60 or more games each season, and have little to show for it. So no one can say the road to hell in either city is paved with the owners' good intentions.
But neither is the road to the promised land.