![]() ![]() They were also surprised that despite wanting James to return, the Cavs didn't have enough cap space available to offer James a maximum contract.įrom the Cavs' perspective, they had no clue James was serious about returning and had to conduct business. When James turned his attention to free agency after losing in the Finals with the Miami Heat, James' representatives were surprised the Cavs had hired Blatt and hadn't waited to see if James would have input. It's why he loved Blatt, who was a legend in Israel, something that appealed to Gilbert. He didn't want a retread or an inexperienced coach, which is why he chased the veteran college coaches. Griffin also interviewed Alvin Gentry, whom he had worked alongside with the Phoenix Suns, and Tyronn Lue, a rising assistant who learned under Doc Rivers.īut team owner Dan Gilbert wanted to make a different kind of hire. They offered the job to numerous big names, from John Calipari and Bill Self in the college ranks to Steve Kerr from the broadcast booth. The Cavs were all over the place in their coaching search that summer. The issues started before James returned to the franchise in July 2014. Such courtesies probably would have continued through this season too, as James made a glaring attempt to publicly support Blatt.īut the fissure between Blatt and the players was irreparable and had been for some time, a reality general manager David Griffin finally accepted when he executed Blatt's dismissal, despite the Cavs' 30-11 record and Blatt's likely berth as All-Star coach. I call him the virgin of the NBA."īoth Blatt and his players, specifically LeBron James, made concessions to deal with this chasm of perception. "That's his first NBA win," Kyrie Irving said after the game. ![]() The Cavs players, especially the veterans, saw him as a rookie. Blatt viewed himself as a coach with numerous championships in Europe, an Olympic medal and 20-plus years on the sideline, a career that made him one of the most experienced coaches in the world. "Not all of you know me that well," Blatt told the media, "but I've probably won over 700 games in my career." Image and perception of a rookie coachĪt the very heart of the matter, this is why the Cavs fired Blatt on Friday, despite a record of 83-40 and a Finals appearance. Blatt accepted it with a smile, but he was also annoyed. The players waited for him in the locker room, and when he emerged from his office they mobbed him, mussed his hair and yelled. That night, the Cleveland Cavaliers had defeated the Chicago Bulls for their first win of the season and Blatt's first win as an NBA coach. ![]() 1, 2014, only his second game as an NBA head coach, but what he was about to say was the first crack in the foundation, and it would lead to one of the more stunning firings in NBA history nearly 15 months later. James quickly overruled the call and told new inbounder Matthew Dellavedova to get him the ball, but the sequence of events understandably had people astonished.— - Running his hands over his hair to smooth it back into place, David Blatt emerged from the visitors locker room at the United Center with a bit of a dour look on his face. Then even more puzzlingly with 1.5 seconds left, Blatt initially called for a baseline out of bounds play in which star LeBron James was the inbounder. Luckily for the Cavs, assistant Tyronn Lue pulled Blatt back before the official recognized it. Had the officials granted his request, a technical foul would've been assessed, giving a free thrown and the ball to the Bulls. (CBS) Despite the Cavaliers' buzzer-beating win against the Bulls on Sunday that perhaps saved their season, it's been a rocky past 24 hours for Cleveland coach David Blatt.Īfter narrowly avoiding two massive coaching blunders in the waning seconds of the game, Blatt has received heavy criticism and questions of whether he's the man to lead the Cavs to the championship they're chasing.Īfter Chicago's Derrick Rose tied the game at 84-all with a layup with less than 10 seconds left, Blatt tried to call a timeout when Cleveland was out of them. ![]()
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