Gordon Gund (born October 15, 1939) is the former principal owner of the
NBAThe National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
's
Cleveland CavaliersThe Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference Championship in 2007.-1970–1980: Expansion and early hope:The Cavaliers first...
, a co-owner of the
San Jose SharksThe San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league as a joint venture for its self perpetuating membership of 30 franchised member clubs located in the United States and Canada...
team, and remains the CEO of Gund Investment Corporation and a minority owner of the Cavaliers.
A native of
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Gund is a member of one of Cleveland's more prominent families. He gradually began going blind in the 1960s because of the disease
retinitis pigmentosaRetinitis pigmentosa is a group of genetic eye conditions. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some sight all their lives . Others go...
. By 1970, Gund was totally blind. As a result, during his tenure as an owner, he has never been able to see a game played by any of his teams.
California Golden Seals and Cleveland Barons
Gund's brother, George, held a minority interest in the California Golden Seals of the NHL. The Seals had never been able to find success either on the ice or at the box office, and after plans for a proposed new arena in San Francisco were cancelled in 1976, he convinced majority owner Mel Swig to relocate the franchise from Oakland to the Gunds' hometown in June of that year. Renamed the
BaronsThe Cleveland Barons was a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League from 1976–78. It was a relocation of the California Golden Seals franchise, which had been based in Oakland since 1967.-History:...
after the popular former
American Hockey LeagueThe American Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League . 28 of the 30 NHL teams have exclusive affiliation agreements with one of the AHL's 29 active clubs...
team, they played at The Coliseum in
RichfieldRichfield is a village in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2000 census. The village and surrounding township are fast-growing, rural/suburban communities, known for good schools and being equidistant between the downtown areas of Akron and Cleveland and has...
, which had been vacated by the
Cleveland CrusadersThe Cleveland Crusaders were a professional ice hockey team from Cleveland, Ohio. The Crusaders were founded by Nick Mileti, and played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1976...
of the
World Hockey AssociationThe World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
when they moved to
Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
to become the second incarnation of the
Minnesota Fighting SaintsThe Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972–76. The second team was relocated from Cleveland, Ohio, and...
.
The Barons only drew 10,000 or more fans in seven out of their 40 home games. They were also troubled by an unfavorable lease with the Coliseum. In January 1977, Swig hinted the team might not finish the season because of payroll difficulties. The Barons actually missed payroll twice in a row in February, and only a $1.3 million loan allowed the Barons to finish the season. They finished last in the
Adams DivisionThe NHL's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honor of Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins...
, and Swig sold his interest in the team to the Gunds.
The Gunds poured money into the team, and it seemed to make a difference at first. The Barons stunned the defending Stanley Cup champion
Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team is a member of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
on November 23 before a boisterous crowd of 12,859. After a brief slump, general manager Harry Howell pulled off several trades in an attempt to make the team tougher. It initially paid off, and the Barons knocked off three of the NHL's top teams, the
Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and
Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding:...
in consecutive games in January 1978. A few weeks later, a record crowd of 13,110 saw the Barons tie the
Philadelphia FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Part of the 1967 NHL Expansion, the Flyers were the first non-Original Six to win the Stanley Cup,...
2–2. The bottom fell out in February, however, as a 15-game losing skid knocked the Barons out of playoff contention.
Minnesota North Stars
At the end of the 1977–78 season, plans to buy the Coliseum outright fell through, and the Barons' small crowds and continuing struggles placed the franchise's viability in serious doubt. Meanwhile, the ownership of the
Minnesota North StarsThe Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow gold and white...
could no longer sustain the team. Since Minnesota was perceived as the more desirable hockey market at the time, NHL President John Ziegler oversaw a merger between the two franchises, with the Gunds assuming ownership of the North Stars, and Minnesota moving into Cleveland's position in the Adams Division. Within three seasons, the North Stars would make the Stanley Cup Finals, thanks to the Gunds' willingness to invest in the team and the addition of a number of talented players, including goaltender
Gilles MelocheGilles Meloche is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins...
, from the Barons' roster
After the NHL geographically realigned their divisions in 1981, placing the North Stars in the rough-and-tumble
Norris DivisionThe NHL's Norris Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division moved to the Clarence Campbell Conference in 1981. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. The division was named in honor of James E. Norris. It is the fore-runner of the NHL's Central...
, the Gunds would see attendance drop at the
Metropolitan Sports CenterThe Met Center was an indoor arena that formerly stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The arena, which was completed in 1967 just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,000. It was best known as the home of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL from 1967-1993...
while the team struggled on the ice. While there was a strong core of die-hard fans, the team often struggled to sell out its home games.
San Jose Sharks
By 1990, the Gunds had decided on a plan to relocate the franchise to the
San Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Yay Area, is a metropolitan region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses large cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and...
, the market they had vacated some 14 years earlier. Ziegler and the league refused to allow this move, but allowed the Gunds to sell the North Stars to
Howard BaldwinHoward Baldwin is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the CEO of Baldwin Entertainment, which has produced films such as the Academy Award-nominated Ray and operates the Iowa Stars AHL ice hockey team. Baldwin founded the New England Whalers ice hockey franchise in the WHA and has...
and granted them an expansion team in the Bay Area, which became the
San Jose SharksThe San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
With an expansion roster, the Sharks finished last in the NHL standings in their first two seasons, when they played out of the old
Cow PalaceThe Cow Palace is an indoor arena in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco.-History:...
, a facility the Seals and the NHL had rejected in 1967. With the opening of the San Jose Arena in 1993, however, the Gunds would be able to spend more on the team, and they made waves throughout the NHL with high-profile first-round upsets in the 1994 and 1995 playoffs. While the franchise could not maintain consistent success on the ice, they have enjoyed a high level of popularity, and their home arena is consistently one of the loudest in the NHL.
In February 2002, the Gunds sold the Sharks to a consortium, named
San Jose Sports & Entertainment EnterprisesSan Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises is a private company based in San Jose, California which owns the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League, and manages the HP Pavilion arena. The company was formed in 2002 after George Gund put...
.
Term as an NBA owner
The Gunds bought the
Cleveland CavaliersThe Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference Championship in 2007.-1970–1980: Expansion and early hope:The Cavaliers first...
from infamous NBA owner
Ted StepienTed Stepien was the former owner of the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers. After becoming wealthy as the founder of Nationwide Advertising Service, Stepien purchased the Cavaliers in the spring of 1980...
in 1983, in order to keep the team in
ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
and at Richfield Coliseum.
Under Gund's ownership, attendance figures started to rise, and the Cavaliers enjoyed a period of competitiveness on the basketball court. In the 1994–1995 season, Gund Arena (since renamed
Quicken Loans ArenaQuicken Loans Arena is a multipurpose arena in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Until August 2005, it was known as Gund Arena, named for Gordon Gund, a former owner of the Cavaliers, after he paid for the naming rights. It is home to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA and the Lake Erie...
) was built and replaced the Coliseum, and attendance figures stayed high. According to the Cavaliers' media guide, the Cavs had the highest attendance figures in franchise history in 15 of the last 16 seasons, heading into the 2004–2005 season.
Gund Arena became a cornerstone of the redevelopment of downtown Cleveland, which was also bolstered by
Jacobs FieldProgressive Field is a ballpark located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and is the home of the Cleveland Indians of the American League. Along with Quicken Loans Arena, it is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex...
, the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
, and the new
Cleveland Browns StadiumCleveland Browns Stadium is a football stadium located at North Coast Harbor in Cleveland, Ohio, near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is the home of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. The stadium sits on of land on the shores of Lake Erie and has a capacity of over 73,200...
. The Gunds would also operate one of the founding franchises of the
WNBAThe Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of thirteen teams. The league was founded in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the NBA...
, the
Cleveland RockersThis article is about the defunct WNBA team; for the American Basketball Association team, see Cleveland Rockers .The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association team that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which...
. They would also bring hockey to Gund Arena, in the form of the International Hockey League's
Cleveland LumberjacksThe Cleveland Lumberjacks were an International Hockey League team based in Cleveland, Ohio.-Facts:The Cleveland Lumberjacks were an International Hockey League team based in Cleveland, Ohio.-Facts:...
and then later a revived version of the
Cleveland BaronsThe Cleveland Barons were a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Cleveland, Ohio, USA at the Gund Arena between 2001 and 2006....
, who were the top minor-league affiliate of the Gunds' San Jose Sharks.
His most notable achievement in the final years of his ownership was drafting high school prodigy and
Akron, OhioAkron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. In 2008, its population was estimated to be 207,510. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles west of...
native
LeBron JamesLeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James," he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar...
with the 1st overall pick in the
2003 NBA DraftThe 2003 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2003 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and...
, a move which helped rejeuvenate interest among the dying fanbase.
In 2005, Gund sold controlling interest of the team to Quicken Loans founder and billionaire Dan Gilbert, maintaining a minority ownership stake for himself.
Life outside of sports
Gund is the former President of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Groton School in
Groton, MassachusettsGroton is an affluent town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population of Groton was 9,547 at the 2000 census. It is home to two world renowned prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793...
. He went to college at
HarvardHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
and has honorary doctorates from
Gothenburg UniversityThe University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
in Sweden,
University of Maryland, BaltimoreUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, was founded in 1807. It comprises some of the oldest professional schools in the nation and world. It is the original campus of the University System of Maryland...
,
Whittier CollegeWhittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. As of January 2009, the college has approximately 1,300 enrolled students.-Overview:...
and the
University of VermontThe University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, more commonly known as the University of Vermont, is a national public research university and the state of Vermont's land-grant university. Known to many as "UVM," the university has also been named a Public Ivy...
. He serves as director of the Kellogg Company of
Battle Creek, MichiganBattle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
, and of Corning Incorporated in
Corning, New YorkCorning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany, New York financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The...
. Gund Hall on the Harvard campus bears his name.
In 1971, Gund co-founded the
Foundation Fighting Blindness with Bernard Berman and remains active as chairman of the board of directors.
Gund and his wife, Lulie, reside in
Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing...
; they have two children.
Gund is featured on
ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
.com's Page 2 of the "Here's Looking At You" column where he was compared as a look alike to
Jim CarreyJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and stand-up comedian. Carrey is best known for his performances as multiple characters in the sketch comedy show In Living Color, as the title character in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, as the unlucky TV...
's character in
The MaskThe Mask is a 1994 action comedy film, based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres on July 29, 1994...
.