Nick Gilbert, the son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, died Saturday after a lifelong battle with neurofibromatosis. He was 26 years old.
Nick was the eldest of Dan Gilbert's five children, and he became a good luck charm for the Cavaliers organization. He represented Cleveland during the 2011 draft lottery at age 14, when the team won the No. 1 pick that it would later use on Kyrie Irving. From then on, he would represent the Cavaliers several more times at the lottery. Cleveland won the No. 1 pick again in 2013.
Gilbert suffered from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder in the nervous system with no known cure, for his entire life. The disease causes tumors to grow on nerve pathways throughout the body.
Last year, Gilbert underwent multiple surgeries, and the team dedicated this past season to him by partnering with NF Forward and The Children's Tumor Foundation.
NF Forward is a foundation that Dan and Jennifer Gilbert started in 2017 in Nick's honor to raise money for research to find a cure for neurofibromatosis.