Cleveland Nets
 |
|
| Sport | Team tennis |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 22, 1973 |
| Folded | November 10, 1978 |
| League | World TeamTennis |
| Division | Eastern |
| Team history |
Cleveland Nets 1974–1976 Cleveland-Pittsburgh Nets 1977 New Orleans Sun Belt Nets 1978 |
| Based in | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome |
| Colors |
Imperial Red, Dark Blue |
| Owner(s) | Joseph Zingale |
| President | Joseph Zingale |
| Head coach | Marty Riessen |
| Championships | None |
| Division titles | None |
| Playoff berths |
1974 (as Cleveland Nets) 1977 (as Cleveland-Pittsburgh Nets) 1978 (as New Orleans Sun Belt Nets) |
Imperial Red, Dark Blue
The New Orleans Sun Belt Nets were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team first played as the Cleveland Nets in 1974, and was known as the Cleveland-Pittsburgh Nets in 1977, when it played roughly half of its home matches in each city. The Nets moved to New Orleans for the 1978 season. Following the 1978 season, the Nets announced that the team would fold. The Nets played all five seasons in WTT from the league's inception in 1974, until its suspension of operations after the 1978 season. The team had losing records in each of its five seasons.
The Nets were founded as WTT's charter franchise for Cincinnati, Ohio in 1973, by Bill DeWitt, Jr. and Brian Heekin. Within weeks of being established, and before the team ever had a name in Cincinnati, DeWitt and Heekin sold it to Cleveland radio executive Joseph Zingale who paid them the same $50,000 as the franchise fee they had paid to WTT. Zingale relocated the team to Cleveland with a plan to have it play its home matches at the Cleveland Public Hall starting with the league's inaugural 1974 season and name it the Cleveland Nets. Before the draft, Zingale spoke to Clark Graebner, a native of Cleveland, about playing for the team as well as to being its coach and general manager. Graebner insisted his wife, Carole, had to be drafted by the team as well. The Nets selected them both as a pair in the fourth round of the draft. No other WTT team objected to the Nets selecting two players with one draft choice. When Clark and Carole Graebner separated, Clark traded Carole to the Pittsburgh Triangles. The couple never divorced, and Carole Graebner died in 2008. Peaches Bartkowicz was a key women's doubles player for the 1974 Nets but quit the team during the season. Through all the drama, the Nets finished with 21 wins and 23 losses, third in the Atlantic Section and snuck into the playoffs.
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