INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Three years later, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert owned up to a monumental mistake.

He’s trying to correct it.

Mike Brown gave him a second chance.

Conceding publicly for the first time that he should have never fired Brown as Cleveland’s coach during the turbulent summer of 2010, Gilbert said Wednesday he’s thrilled to be able to re-hire the most successful coach in franchise history.

Brown, who led the Cavs to the NBA playoffs in each of his five seasons with the club, has reunited with a team he guided to its greatest success and the owner who fired him after Cleveland was eliminated from the 2010 playoffs — not long before LeBron James decided to bolt as a free agent.

“Yeah, it was a mistake. Sure it was a mistake,” Gilbert said of his choice to sack Brown. “We have the benefit of hindsight right now, and in hindsight it was a mistake. That summer we went through three years ago was a unique time for us as a franchise and the uncertainty on a lot of levels. We are very happy that we get to rectify any position we took back then.

“Maybe he’s meant to be here.”

Brown was re-introduced by the Cavs at their training facility following a lightning-fast second courtship with the Cavs he described as “surreal.”