Lafayette Township, Ohio — Joe Tait, the Hall of Fame broadcaster whose play-by-play calls defined Cleveland Cavaliers basketball for generations of fans, died Wednesday at the age of 83.
Tait served as the Cavaliers’ radio voice on 1100-AM, popularly known as 3WE, through eras that included the Brad Daugherty, Mark Price and Larry Nance teams. Before regional sports television became commonplace, his descriptions were the primary link between the club and much of Northeast Ohio.
Mentor to future journalists
During the early 1990s, college student Sam Amico — now an NBA reporter — discovered his professional path while listening to Tait’s broadcasts from his home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Introduced to Tait by columnist Terry Pluto and future television host Jeff Phelps, Amico received pivotal advice: pursue the dream even if it meant starting in small markets.
Following that guidance, Amico accepted a job at a local newspaper in southern Wyoming, where Tait and Pluto asked him to mail printed copies of his stories. Tait would jokingly call himself the young writer’s “biggest fan,” noting that he might be the only person regularly reading those articles.
A broadcaster who preferred paper to pixels
When Amico began covering the NBA for NBA.com in 2005 and later launched his own website, Tait continued to read the reports — but only on paper. Uncomfortable with the internet, he asked Amico to deliver printed versions to his broadcast perch inside what is now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. One of those stories was even held up on the air during a Cavaliers game, leading to Amico’s eventual guest appearance on the broadcast and, later, to a reporting position with Fox Sports Ohio.
Personal passions and lasting humor
Tait was known for a lifelong fascination with trains and often pressed Amico for updates on a historic station in Evanston, Wyoming. He also retained an easy, self-deprecating wit. At a Cavaliers fan function in Akron, Tait spoke first to a packed room, leaving only a handful of attendees for Amico’s follow-up remarks; afterward, Tait lightheartedly claimed he had invited the crowd to join him in the car for donuts.
Legacy secured in Springfield
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s media wing, Tait spent his later years in Lafayette Township, south of Cleveland. Friends and former colleagues remember him both for his on-air excellence and for the private encouragement he offered aspiring journalists.
Tait’s death closes the final chapter on a career that helped shape the Cavaliers’ identity and inspired countless listeners to pursue work in sports media.
Source: Hoops Wire
