Dan Gilbert will forever be a hero in the city of Cleveland for the way he runs the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is not afraid to spend his money in the pursuit of winning. That is all fans can ask for in an owner.

His work in Cleveland makes it easy to forget he is a Michigan native and was specifically born in Detroit. Thus, the Michigan ties run deep.

That is why some fans may have been shocked when they saw a tweet Gilbert put out Wednesday morning. Yet all people had to do was check the calendar and read closely to figure out it was all a joke.

His pitch? Calling Cleveland’s new WNBA team the “Ohio Wolverines.”

Dan Gilbert has fun at the expense of Cleveland fans

Gilbert even goes as far to suggest the Detroit WNBA franchise call itself the “Michigan Buckeyes.” What he is not joking about is calling Lake Erie “the Midwest’s own Mediterranean.” That is no April Fools’ exaggeration.

The replies seem to show most people understood it as a joke. Yet there are certainly people who were clearly duped, perhaps too prideful to share it on social media.

Gilbert has the grace and goodwill among Cleveland fans to make a joke like this. What would have happened if Jimmy Haslam made a joke on social media to this magnitude? That would have been enough to power local talk shows for a week.

The Dolans, owners of the Guardians, would also not find a big sense of humor among fans.

Gilbert’s spending allows him to get away with these fun pranks

The Cavaliers are among a handful of teams spending over $200 million in cash on player salaries this season. Guardians fans could only dream of such spending, and MLB does not even have a salary cap. Thus, fans are often on Gilbert’s side for his commitment to winning.

This post also reminds fans of the coming WNBA franchise, which will debut in 2028. That team will only add to Gilbert’s portfolio in the city.

His Cavs are also among the favorites to win the NBA title in 2026.

The excitement only continues in the summer, win or lose, as rumors of another LeBron return will loom over the franchise. Such a move would likely be the next time fans would be talking about a Dan Gilbert social media post.

More Cavs coverage on our YouTube channel here:

CLEVELAND — A line of storms blew through northern Ohio Tuesday night, spurring Tornado Warnings, especially in the Cleveland area.

Gusts of 74 miles per hour were recorded hitting the region, and many are waking up without power on Wednesday morning, with some debris to clean up. 

The storms prompted a Flood Warning overnight, and high water remains to be an issue in some areas. 

As of Wednesday morning, more than 30,000 people were without power, mostly in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties. Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced some schools are closed due to power outages as well. 

In an update early Wednesday, Cleveland Public Power said it has worked through the night and restored power to approximately 75% of customers.

“Our crews are facing challenges such as uprooted trees and aluminum siding as well other debris blown into powerlines. We appreciate your patience as they work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power,” Cleveland Public Power wrote in a post on Facebook.

The National Weather Service reported multiple trees down, including a tree that went through a house in Wayne County. There are also massive trees blocking sidewalks and roadways, including in Shaker Heights. 

Over in Willoughby Hills, fire and police warned of high water from the Chagrin River, creating flood hazards. Some roads were closed in the area, including Bishop Road and White Road. Flooding was also reported along SOM Center Road. The river crested at about 15 feet at 4 a.m. Wednesday.

“Police, Fire and Service Departments are actively working to address these issues and assist residents,” Willoughby Hills Police said. “Please use extreme caution while driving. Do NOT attempt to drive through water of unknown depth.”

(Willoughby Hills Fire Department)

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To the western side of the state, Toledo also faced some damage from the strong storms.

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Tuesday night’s storm ravaged various parts of Cuyahoga County, including Shaker Heights, Cleveland and North Olmsted.

Tornado Warning issued for 3 Northeast Ohio counties

During our travels throughout the county, we saw a massive tree uprooted out of a field near Woodbury Elementary.

The tree stood inches from South Woodland Road and luckily snapped in the direction of the field rather than the residential homes on the other side.

Over in Cleveland on West 54th Street and Courtland Avenue, police blocked off a section of that intersection due to a downed tree that fell near a playground.

There was also a telephone pole that snapped and was hanging over the top of the road.

In North Olmsted on Birch Circle, there were several downed trees in front yards.

“Oh, it was a mess the second, I mean, coming down and seeing those four trees lying up. There’s three in the front here just lying on their side all over the driveway, and all the neighbors outside, wondering what to do, you know, where to start,” Taylor Wright told me.

Wright wasn’t home at the time of the storm. Neither was his partner, Candace Kepler.

Kepler said she was down the street at Target when the store started making announcements to take shelter.

“They made an announcement saying that everybody needed to be escorted to the tornado hall, and they made us all just leave our shopping carts and everything. We all went to the back of the store and huddled in this little metal hall in the back of Target,” Kepler said.

For 35 minutes, Kepler said she was stuck inside the store, worrying about her teenage daughter who was home alone.

“She was pretty scared because she saw the trees come down,” Kepler said. “I wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let me leave, so I just kept her on FaceTime and tried to see if our neighbors… they came over and grabbed her, so that was good. Just keeping her safe was really just a priority.”

Luckily, their daughter is safe and sound, and so are they.

“Had you seen anything like it before?” I asked Wright.

He said, “Not this bad, especially not around here. This was the worst I’ve seen it over here with trees for sure.”

As of 8:30 p.m., Kepler and Wright were without power.

They were anticipating that it would come back on by 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, neighbors are already acting fast to chop the downed trees into pieces.

“They were in the neighbor’s driveway, so I grabbed my chainsaw, and then Sam, our neighbor, his kid came over with one, and we just got them all picked up, chopped them all up, and put them all in the tree lawn,” Wright said.

Stick with News 5 as we continue to monitor the latest on storm damage.