Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Ozzie Silna, ABA owner who made $800M off NBA, dies at 83

If you haven't heard of Ozzie Silna, you should know: He was kind of a big deal around the NBA. In fact, one of the biggest in league history.

Silna, who with his brother negotiated a prescient deal that brought them almost $800 million in NBA television money, without ever owning an NBA team, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 83.

MORE: Sports figures we have lost in 2016

His family said the cause of death was cancer, according to multiple reports.

Ozzie and Daniel Silna, who owned the Spirits of St.