Cavaliers owner creates a home-court advantage on the road

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. David Richard-Imagn Images

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert creates a home-court advantage on the road

By Sean Keane | Last updated May 17, 2026 11:10 PM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers won two road games in Detroit to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Their owner made sure the Cavs got to see some friendly faces in the Motor City.

On the heels of sending eight busloads of fans to see Cleveland's overtime win in Game 5, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert sent 25 buses full of fans to their Game 7 win over the Detroit Pistons. The fans got free tickets and travel expenses — and the Cavs got two road wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Dan Gilbert invaded Little Caesars Arena

The Cavs owner was born and raised in Detroit, which is where he founded a company that later became Quicken Loans. He's owned the Cavaliers since 2005 but has devoted much of his business attention to Detroit, where he's invested $7.5B into real estate development in the downtown area and once donated $500M in an effort to assist low-income homeowners.

So it's not a surprise that Gilbert would also invest in playoff tickets for Cavs fans. He provided tickets and transportation for team officials and employees for the first two games of the series, then he upped his efforts to eight buses for Game 5, which reportedly included 550 fans. With 25 buses for Game 7, that suggests Gilbert may have sent over 1,700 Cavaliers supporters to a decisive road game.

.@CassidyHubbarth tells the story of how Dan Gilbert funded 25 buses of Cavaliers fans for Game 7 in Detroit pic.twitter.com/6zBVSvfcps
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 18, 2026

Maybe that's part of why the Cavaliers remained unruffled as they forced overtime by closing the 4th quarter on a 9-0 run in Game 5. In Game 7, they took a lead 1:15 into the game and never trailed again in front of a crowd that was chanting "Let's Go Cavs" in the fourth quarter.

New York Knicks fans should travel to Cleveland

The Cavs' Eastern Conference Finals opponent, the New York Knicks, had fans who also traveled in large numbers to the Philadelphia 76ers area in round two. Even with the 76ers limiting ticket sales to Philadelphia residents and donating blocks of tickets to keep them away from Knicks fans, the visiting team turned Xfinity Mobile Arena into "Madison Square Garden East," as Joel Embiid called it.

Detroit may be only a three-hour drive from Cleveland, but New York is only a two-hour flight. There's a bigger threat of Knicks fans making Cleveland's arena into Madison Square Garden Midwest than Cavs fans doing the reverse.

That is, unless Gilbert wants to step it up and start sending fans into the Big Apple by plane or private train. He'd be better off simply trying to protect Cavaliers tickets from Knicks rooters. At the very least, Gilbert and the Cavs need to forbid ticket buyers from reselling to Spike Lee or Timothee Chalamet.

Sean Keane

Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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