On Jan. 22, the Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the NBA when they announced that they had parted ways with head coach David Blatt. This comes in the middle of Blatt’s second year with the team; the Cavaliers were at a 30-11 record at the time of his firing, giving them possession of the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
In his first year with the team, the Cavaliers went 53-29 in the regular season. The Cavs eventually won the East before falling to the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the NBA Finals.
Blatt made history when he and Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr became the first case of two rookie head coaches facing each other in the Finals. Blatt’s firing came just four days after the Cavaliers were decisively dropped by the Warriors 120-90, the second time this season that the Cavs have lost to Golden State. Cavaliers’ General Manager David Griffin released a statement citing that Blatt had “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision.”
However, many have suspected that the primary reason for Blatt’s dismissal is that he did not get along with Cavaliers superstar LeBron James. James has a history of burning through head coaches. After going through a carousel of head men in his first stint in Cleveland, it was rumored that one of his primary reasons for leaving the Miami Heat in 2014 was because the Heat refused to fire head coach Erik Spoelstra.
It has been well-documented that James has not seen eye-to-eye with Blatt. During last year’s playoff run, there were several times where Blatt and James were spotted in a heated argument. Against Chicago in the Eastern Conference semifinals, James openly admitted to rejecting Blatt’s play call in the huddle before the final play of the game.
James has openly spoke about how he wishes to be coached by a former NBA player, and while Blatt did have an extensive career in the Israeli Premier league, he never played in the NBA. Blatt’s replacement, now former assistant coach Tyronn Lue, has experience as an NBA player, further leading to the speculation that James was behind Blatt’s dismissal.
While many have seen this move as shady by the Cavaliers, it does make sense on a few levels. When the Cavaliers signed James in free agency and traded for Kevin Love back in the summer of 2014, it was clear that Cleveland was on a mission to win a championship. However, consistent and decisive defeats at the hands of the Golden State Warriors have shown that the Cavs are not ready to win a championship.
With James on the wrong side of 30 and Blatt showing no signs of cracking the Warriors any time soon, the Cavaliers had to act decisively in order to try and spark something from the team. After losing their first game under Lue, the Cavaliers have had the look of a different team. The team is operating under a much faster tempo offensively, and Love is playing his best basketball since his days with the Timberwolves.
It was clear that the team’s ceiling with Blatt was winning the Eastern Conference. With the team chasing a championship, Lue’s tweaks to the offense are enough to offer hope in the event that the team faces Golden State again in the finals. The person whose legacy is most at stake now is James. Whether or not it is fair, the media will place the bulk of Blatt’s firing on James’ shoulders. If the Cavaliers fall short again, do not be surprised if they go head coach hunting once more.
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