CLEVELAND — It's been a special season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. At 50-10, the team holds the best record in the NBA. However, Sunday's game was about much more than just basketball. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Cleveland Cavaliers honored Nick Gilbert's life and legacy and raised awareness for NF1 at their third annual Bow Tie Night

  • It was the grand opening of "Gilly's" at Rocket Arena, a sports bar inspired by Nick Gilbert 

  • Lisa Quine's portrait of Nick Gilbert was unveiled at halftime of the game

It was about honoring the life and legacy of Nick Gilbert. 

Nick is the son of Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert and passed away in May of 2023 due to complications from Neurofibromatosis (NF1). On Sunday, the Cavaliers held their third annual Bow Tie Night to raise awareness for the condition. 

"Nick Gilbert, he really inspires us every day. He was incredibly passionate, funny, fun loving despite everything he had going on with neurofibromatosis which is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on different nerve endings throughout the body," Executive Director of the Gilbert Foundation Laura Grannemann said. 

At this year’s Bow Tie night game, the Cavaliers held the grand opening of Gilly’s a sports bar in Loudville inspired by Nick, handed out bobbleheads of Nick to each fan in attendance, and donated proceeds from merchandise sales to NF Forward. While the bow tie night event is special, raising awareness for NF1 is a year round mission for the organization. 

"“Really raising awareness with the general population about what neurofibromatosis is and how we can all collectively advocate for better research, better treatments, and ultimately better cures. So yes, it’s a year round mission for the Gilbert Family Foundation, the Cavaliers, and the Gilbert family themselves," Granneman said. 

While the Cavaliers beat the Trail Blazers in Overtime on Sunday, the most special moment of the game took place at halftime. Lisa Quine is a local artist who painted a portrait of Nick Gilbert that was unveiled in front of nearly 20,000 fans at Rocket Arena. Her son River has NF1. She says that being recognized at halftime nearly brought her to tears. 

"I kept telling my husband I don’t want to cry throughout this whole thing and luckily I didn’t but it was impactful," Quine said. "I’ve never been in the center of a basketball court before and throughout the whole game they’re showing this NF1 content, they’re celebrating Nick’s life, just pinch me. Our son has the same rare disorder. To be recognized at this level, the amount of awareness it raises and the fact that they do this every year, it’s a lot and it feels like it’s all hitting me right now.”