So what if, before the game, he banged open the locker-room door and, while the coach was diagramming a play, reminded the players about the party after the game?

And he was the No.1 man, making decisions without sometimes telling his coach or player personnel director - sometimes even taking advice on player matters from salesmen in his advertising company.

He could be a virtual spendthrift with player contracts, and then be niggling about other matters. ''I like Ted Stepien very much, but I told him to his face that sometimes he has no idea how to run a basketball team,'' said Bill Musselman, who was dismissed six weeks ago as his coach and player personnel director. ''I mean, I'd tell him we had to have someone scout a team. He'd say, 'You have to?' And then he'd decide who. I remember once he had one of his salesmen scout Phoenix for us. It began, 'The forwards line up on opposite sides of the floor. ...' I couldn't believe it. I threw it right in the trash basket.''

And if Stepien didn't know much about the N.B.A. - and he admits it -then he wasn't so terrific on public relations either. Shortly after he bought the club, an interview with him ran in ''Rave,'' the publication of the Richfield Coliseum. When asked about changes he wanted to make, he commented:

''This is not to sound prejudiced, but half the squad would be white. I think people are afraid to speak out on the subject. White people have to have white heroes. I myself can't equate to black heroes. I'll be truthful. I respect them, but I need white people. It's in me - and I think the Cavaliers have too many blacks, 10 of 11. You need a blend of white and blacks. That draws, and I think that's a better team.''

The team is still predominately black, but it happens that perhaps the best player now is white - Scott Wedman, a good but not great 6-foot-7-inch forward whom Stepien signed as a free agent in 1981 for $4 million for five years.

Stepien was heavily criticized for those remarks. ''I'm no racist,'' he said. And he seems to act toward blacks with humanity and a ready checkbook. When players are in trouble, they find him an easy man to talk to - and to borrow from. Even those players making half a million dollars a year.

''Ted's biggest asset and biggest problem,'' said Musselman, ''is that he's a soft touch. When I tried to discipline the players, he'd say in the morning, 'Fine, suspend the guy.' Then in the afternoon the guy would talk to him and tell him his personal problems and Ted would rescind the suspension.''