Pierre Pan
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Looks like a world-class facility. Since it’s behind a pay wall, I’ve pasted the article for all to see.
theathletic.com
CLEVELAND — It won’t be long now until Darius Garland, Evan Mobley or any other Cleveland Cavaliers player can walk into the practice facility, flip a few switches and be transported virtually to Madison Square Garden, United Center or any other arena in the NBA.
The “shot lab” will be just one feature in the Cavs’ newly imagined 210,000-square-foot practice facility that is tentatively scheduled to open in 2027 or perhaps a bit sooner. The Cavs are the latest in a growing list of teams across all sports blending elite professional training with portions of public access. The team on Tuesday released the first renderings for their Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, which would immediately become one of the world’s largest training facilities and the latest in a growing list of public-private venues shared by professional athletes and their fans alike.
The center will be privately funded by Cavs chairman Dan Gilbert and The Cleveland Clinic. The project is expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The well-being and player enhancement of our players is at the forefront of what we want to be about,” Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman told The Athletic. “This will be game-changing for that approach.”
Gilbert has been slowly acquiring land along the Cuyahoga River behind Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland for more than a decade. It was initially expected to serve as phase two of Cleveland’s first casino, which Gilbert opened in 2012. When that plan disintegrated in the years that followed, Gilbert sat on the land and kept acquiring smaller parcels as they became available. He now has 35 acres of what is mostly desolate parking lots, abandoned warehouses and blight. That will soon change.
The Cavs are expected to meet with Cleveland’s Planning Commission within the next few weeks to pitch their proposal. They hope to have shovels in the ground by the end of the year. The Cavs’ lease on Cleveland Clinic Courts, their current facility in Independence, expires in 2026. The Cavs have simply outgrown their current building in part because of the amount of staff they’ve added since Altman took over as general manager in 2017 and largely because they also brought their G League affiliate Cleveland Charge operations into their current building in 2021. Parking is extremely limited and space is scarce. With a valley to the east and a ravine to the north, expanding the current venue isn’t feasible. More importantly, the Cavs want to be downtown.
“That just aligns with Dan’s vision. He’s always wanted to be downtown,” Altman said. “He thinks that the best cities have thriving downtowns. So he’s always been fascinated with the urban core to live, work and play.”
A number of current Cavs players live either downtown or in nearby neighborhoods within minutes of downtown. The team hopes the new facility will be an oasis where players want to spend their time. It could even perhaps serve as a recruiting tool in a region that has never been a popular free-agent destination.
The new facility was designed by the architecture firm Populous, which also designed Cleveland Browns Stadium more than 25 years ago. Populous has designed more than 1,300 stadiums and facilities across 34 countries totaling more than $23 billion.
The new facility was designed by the architecture firm Populous, which also designed Cleveland Browns Stadium more than 25 years ago. Populous has designed more than 1,300 stadiums and facilities across 34 countries totaling more than $23 billion.
Cavs officials toured similar facilities in Orlando, Atlanta and San Antonio, and said one regret some teams shared was how they wish they went bigger. To that end, the Cavs’ facility will be the largest of any NBA team and four times larger than their current Cleveland Clinic Courts, although that counts the square footage of both the Cavs’ piece and the public portion.
The public part will welcome athletes of all skill levels, from weekend warriors to competitive athletes. Golfers can have the biometrics of their swing studied, while sprinters can have their gait analyzed for proper hip motions.
“If you’ve got a 7-year-old that loves to play a sport, you can bring him in and they can actually get analytics on their speed or their strength,” Cavs chief executive officer Nic Barlage s. “And that will obviously go all the way to world-class athletes like NBA players. Then our goal is also to use that space to attract other athletes, whether it’s world-class tennis players, or football players, whatever the case may be.”
If Serena Williams ever wants to try a comeback, she can train here.
“Our goal on the Clinic side is to serve everyone,” Barlage said.
There are logistics to sort through and more infrastructure needs ahead. While it’s relatively close in proximity to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the land is largely inaccessible and certainly not walkable.
Cleveland has struggled for generations to successfully maximize the waterfront of both Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. The Cavs are hoping to be the catalyst to change that. There will be a kayak launch point, for example, that will give the general public an entryway to the river.
“The city has such great natural resources from the lake and the river, we just never embraced it,” Altman said. “This could be a civic gift to the city. I think that’s the way we’re looking at it.”
As for the Cavs, there will of course be expanded locker rooms and weight rooms and all the player luxuries that have become common among teams. The building will have enough hoops to comprise three basketball courts, plus the half-court shot lab. Players can use projection technology and LED lighting to bring up the courts, seating and crowd noise of various arenas across the league.
Elaborate practice facilities with a public component have become popular across all sports, but particularly in the NBA. Cavs officials toured the Detroit Pistons’ facility with Henry Ford Health and saw what the Orlando Magic did with AdventHealth and what the Atlanta Falcons recently opened with Emory Healthcare.
The Cavs believe their longstanding partnership with the Clinic, one of the world’s leaders in health and medicine, gives it a unique advantage in a growing and competitive field. At its root, however, it is a new practice and training facility for the Cavaliers with the intention of getting the players to perform at their best at 7 p.m. every night.
“I’ve learned this from Dan over the years: You have two options. You can either wait for momentum and piggyback off of it or you can go create your own momentum,” Barlage said. “What we’re trying to do is create our own momentum for the city and for the region.”
(Artist rendering of the Cleveland Clinic Global Park Performance Center: Courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers)
Cavaliers unveil renderings for new downtown practice facility with public component
A state-of-the-art center privately funded by Cavs chairman Dan Gilbert and The Cleveland Clinic could open in 2027 or maybe sooner.
theathletic.com
CLEVELAND — It won’t be long now until Darius Garland, Evan Mobley or any other Cleveland Cavaliers player can walk into the practice facility, flip a few switches and be transported virtually to Madison Square Garden, United Center or any other arena in the NBA.
The “shot lab” will be just one feature in the Cavs’ newly imagined 210,000-square-foot practice facility that is tentatively scheduled to open in 2027 or perhaps a bit sooner. The Cavs are the latest in a growing list of teams across all sports blending elite professional training with portions of public access. The team on Tuesday released the first renderings for their Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, which would immediately become one of the world’s largest training facilities and the latest in a growing list of public-private venues shared by professional athletes and their fans alike.
The center will be privately funded by Cavs chairman Dan Gilbert and The Cleveland Clinic. The project is expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The well-being and player enhancement of our players is at the forefront of what we want to be about,” Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman told The Athletic. “This will be game-changing for that approach.”
Gilbert has been slowly acquiring land along the Cuyahoga River behind Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland for more than a decade. It was initially expected to serve as phase two of Cleveland’s first casino, which Gilbert opened in 2012. When that plan disintegrated in the years that followed, Gilbert sat on the land and kept acquiring smaller parcels as they became available. He now has 35 acres of what is mostly desolate parking lots, abandoned warehouses and blight. That will soon change.
The Cavs are expected to meet with Cleveland’s Planning Commission within the next few weeks to pitch their proposal. They hope to have shovels in the ground by the end of the year. The Cavs’ lease on Cleveland Clinic Courts, their current facility in Independence, expires in 2026. The Cavs have simply outgrown their current building in part because of the amount of staff they’ve added since Altman took over as general manager in 2017 and largely because they also brought their G League affiliate Cleveland Charge operations into their current building in 2021. Parking is extremely limited and space is scarce. With a valley to the east and a ravine to the north, expanding the current venue isn’t feasible. More importantly, the Cavs want to be downtown.
“That just aligns with Dan’s vision. He’s always wanted to be downtown,” Altman said. “He thinks that the best cities have thriving downtowns. So he’s always been fascinated with the urban core to live, work and play.”
A number of current Cavs players live either downtown or in nearby neighborhoods within minutes of downtown. The team hopes the new facility will be an oasis where players want to spend their time. It could even perhaps serve as a recruiting tool in a region that has never been a popular free-agent destination.
The new facility was designed by the architecture firm Populous, which also designed Cleveland Browns Stadium more than 25 years ago. Populous has designed more than 1,300 stadiums and facilities across 34 countries totaling more than $23 billion.
The new facility was designed by the architecture firm Populous, which also designed Cleveland Browns Stadium more than 25 years ago. Populous has designed more than 1,300 stadiums and facilities across 34 countries totaling more than $23 billion.
Cavs officials toured similar facilities in Orlando, Atlanta and San Antonio, and said one regret some teams shared was how they wish they went bigger. To that end, the Cavs’ facility will be the largest of any NBA team and four times larger than their current Cleveland Clinic Courts, although that counts the square footage of both the Cavs’ piece and the public portion.
The public part will welcome athletes of all skill levels, from weekend warriors to competitive athletes. Golfers can have the biometrics of their swing studied, while sprinters can have their gait analyzed for proper hip motions.
“If you’ve got a 7-year-old that loves to play a sport, you can bring him in and they can actually get analytics on their speed or their strength,” Cavs chief executive officer Nic Barlage s. “And that will obviously go all the way to world-class athletes like NBA players. Then our goal is also to use that space to attract other athletes, whether it’s world-class tennis players, or football players, whatever the case may be.”
If Serena Williams ever wants to try a comeback, she can train here.
“Our goal on the Clinic side is to serve everyone,” Barlage said.
There are logistics to sort through and more infrastructure needs ahead. While it’s relatively close in proximity to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the land is largely inaccessible and certainly not walkable.
Cleveland has struggled for generations to successfully maximize the waterfront of both Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. The Cavs are hoping to be the catalyst to change that. There will be a kayak launch point, for example, that will give the general public an entryway to the river.
“The city has such great natural resources from the lake and the river, we just never embraced it,” Altman said. “This could be a civic gift to the city. I think that’s the way we’re looking at it.”
As for the Cavs, there will of course be expanded locker rooms and weight rooms and all the player luxuries that have become common among teams. The building will have enough hoops to comprise three basketball courts, plus the half-court shot lab. Players can use projection technology and LED lighting to bring up the courts, seating and crowd noise of various arenas across the league.
Elaborate practice facilities with a public component have become popular across all sports, but particularly in the NBA. Cavs officials toured the Detroit Pistons’ facility with Henry Ford Health and saw what the Orlando Magic did with AdventHealth and what the Atlanta Falcons recently opened with Emory Healthcare.
The Cavs believe their longstanding partnership with the Clinic, one of the world’s leaders in health and medicine, gives it a unique advantage in a growing and competitive field. At its root, however, it is a new practice and training facility for the Cavaliers with the intention of getting the players to perform at their best at 7 p.m. every night.
“I’ve learned this from Dan over the years: You have two options. You can either wait for momentum and piggyback off of it or you can go create your own momentum,” Barlage said. “What we’re trying to do is create our own momentum for the city and for the region.”
(Artist rendering of the Cleveland Clinic Global Park Performance Center: Courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers)
