CLEVELAND — Basketball fans in Cleveland and across America are mourning the loss of Joe Tait, the longtime Cavaliers radio broadcaster who died Wednesday at the age of 83.
Tait called the highs and lows of the Cavs throughout most of their first 41 seasons in the NBA, including 2003-10, when he was on the mic for the "Kid from Akron's" first stint playing for his hometown team.
LeBron James is, whithout a shadow of a doubt, the greatest Cavalier of all-time. The now-Los Angeles Laker was one of many to pay tribute to Tait following his passing, doing so on Twitter.
"Rest In Paradise my friend!!" James wrote. "You'll be extremely missed here!"
The Cavs were a laughingstock prior to James' arrival as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, but as the St. Vincent-St. Mary alum developed into one of the league's superstars, the team itself developed into a true contender. Cleveland made the playoffs and advanced to at least the second round each year from 2006-10, including their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals in 2007.
Tait was there for all of it, relaying the action with ease as a new generation of listeners got to experience the winning basketball he had come to know under during the Bill Fitch and Daugherty-Price-Nance eras.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers failed to win a championship during that stretch, leading James to bolt town for the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010. The Northeast Ohio native's infamous "Decision" drew scorn from across the sports world, and Tait was no exception.
"He never has been, never will be a leader," Tait told Terry Pluto, co-author of his memoir "Joe Tait: It's Been a Real Ball," at the time. "And down deep, he knows it. That's why he left to go with [Dwyane] Wade. He'd rather let Wade be the leader."
But as we now know, time heals all wounds, and LeBron made his triumphant return to the Cavs prior to the 2014-15 season. Although Tait had retired three years earlier, he had changed his tune and eventually commended James for coming back and eventually winning Cleveland a title in 2016, and the two appeared to have mended fences.
"He's always had the desire to win. But now, he has the maturity, the smarts and he's won titles before," Tait told Pluto after that year's Finals. "He's a real leader...He is one of the greatest players I've ever seen."
In the book, Tait also spoke of his warm relationship with James' mother, Gloria.
"Whenever she saw me, she'd run up and give me a big hug," he remembered. "I enjoyed her."
The Cavs also issued a statement on Tait's death, saying "he was a part of the Cavs story like no one else and his voice and unique, candid perspective reverberates throughout the team’s history."
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