The Cleveland Cavaliers surprised many around the NBA last week with the firing of David Blatt after less than two seasons as head coach.
Blatt was fired on Friday by the Cavaliers and replaced with assistant Tyronn Lue despite the fact that the Cavaliers had the best record in the eastern conference. Blatt was fired with the Cavs at 30-11 on the season and the move comes after he led the team to the NBA finals against the Warriors last year. Many people on social media assumed that star LeBron James had something to do with the move, but general manager David Griffin said on Friday that James did not take part in the decision.
According to ESPN, James said that he was "surprised and caught off-guard" with the move, although he did praise Lue after it was announced that he would take over. The Cavaliers have had their share of struggles this season even while having the best record in the east, as Kevin Love has not been making as big of an impact as expected after the return of Kyrie Irving from injury, but that is not all on Blatt. The Cavaliers recently were blown out at home against the Warriors and that loss may have played a part in Blatt's undoing.
Brian Windhorst at ESPN reports that while James was "fond" of Lue and his work as an assistant, James was not directly consulted about the move with Blatt. Griffin said that it was his decision alone and that he felt that the team needed a change. Chris Broussard reported that sources said that numerous Cavs played felt that "Blatt was in over his head as coach and questioned whether he knew the league well enough to lead them to a championship." That notion also could have played into Griffin's decision to make a change at head coach.
Blatt was 83-40 with the Cavaliers and brought the team to the finals last season and according to ESPN.com, Blatt is the first head coach "since conferences began in 1970-71 to be fired when his team has the best record in its conference." Griffin said that the move was about "measuring more than wins and losses" and that it also was not "an indictment of David Blatt as a coach."
Either way, the move was a surprising one to many in the league after the success the Cavaliers have had over the past season and a half. Some NBA coaches vented some frustrations about the move in the media, including Stan Van Gundy, Gregg Popovich and Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle. Carlisle said to the Dallas Morning News that he was "embarrassed for our league that something like this could happen. It's just bizarre. Now is Tyronn Lue going to coach the All-Star Game?"
The Cavaliers obviously have the right to make a change if they feel that is the best move for the team, but at 30-11 and first in the east after making the finals last year, something seems off about firing Blatt. There could be more going on behind the scenes for the Cavaliers and Griffin clearly felt this was a necessary move to help get the team in position to win a championship. Now it remains to be seen if Lue can be the coach to get the team there.
Check here for more on Blatt and the Cavaliers.
https://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14627529/david-blatt-fired-cleveland-cavaliers-coach
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/01/24/nba-coaches-react-to-cavaliers-firing-of-david-blatt/
