RARE! “1976 Cavaliers- The Miracle of Richfield" Team Signed 10X8 Photo SGC COA

Description: Up for auction the 1976 "Cavaliers- The Miracle of Richfield" Team Signed 10X8 Color Photo. Signers include; Bingo Smith, Nate Thurmond, Austin Carr, Campy Russell and Jim Chones. This item is certified authentic by Sportscard Guaranty Authentic (SGC) and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity and matching hologram. ES-6639,ES-6640,ES-6641 Cleveland Cavaliers, also called the Cavs, American professional basketball team based in Cleveland that plays in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and has won one NBA title (2016).The Cavaliers began play as an NBA expansion team in 1970 under the ownership of the ambitious entrepreneur Nick Mileti, who at one time owned not only the Cavs but also baseball’s Cleveland Indians and the city’s World Hockey Association franchise (the Cavaliers have since gone through several changes of ownership). Coached by Bill Fitch and playing in the antiquated Cleveland Arena, the Cavs finished their first season with the worst record in the league, a frustrating exercise that was epitomized by John Warren unwittingly shooting at and scoring in the opponent’s basket during one game. The team’s poor season did net them the first overall selection in the 1971 NBA draft, which they used to select guard Austin Carr, the Cavaliers’ first star player. Cleveland slowly improved through the early ’70s, and in the 1975–76 season Fitch guided a team featuring Carr, forward Bobby (“Bingo”) Smith, and centre Nate Thurmond—a key mid-season acquisition—to a 49–33 record and the team’s first division championship. The first playoff series in team history (an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Washington Bullets) was highlighted by three last-second game-winning shots by the Cavs, and the series became known as the “Miracle of Richfield” (for the suburban location of the Coliseum, the team’s home arena from 1974 to 1994). After winning the seven-game series, the Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. Cleveland followed its “Miracle” season with two consecutive winning campaigns that each led to playoff berths, but the Cavs were eliminated in the first round both times. The team then entered into a period marked by poor front-office decisions and high head-coach turnover, and the Cavs posted losing records in each season between 1978–79 and 1986–87. In 1985, however, Wayne Embry took over as the team’s general manager and hired Lenny Wilkens as the Cavs’ head coach for the 1986–87 season.

Price: 149.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-12-22T14:42:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD