The Cleveland Cavaliers made David Blatt the third coach in the last 40 seasons to be fired the season following an NBA finals appearance Friday afternoon, resulting in the promotion of Tyronn Lue.
Despite a 83-40 record during his stint with the Cavaliers, there was obvious sense of disconnect between ex-Cavaliers head coach David Blatt at his players, something general manager David Griffin put an emphasis on during Friday’s press conference.
"“There is a disconnect on this team.” Griffin stated, via Cleveland.Com’s Fedor. “There is a lack of spirit.”"
This move, though surprising many, didn’t come as a shock to former Cavaliers big-man Brendan Haywood, who told Sirius XM’s NBA Today channel Blatt “lost respect” of his players.
"“From what I was hearing, David Blatt kind of lost the team,” Haywood told Justine Termine and Eddie Johnson. “Then there were differences about what guys should be playing and what guys weren’t playing, from a management-coaching standpoint.“When you throw in those type of things combined with the fact that Tyronn Lue already had a lot of power in the organization, had a lot of traction, and a lot of people that were there already viewed him as the coach, these type of things happen.” via. NBA.Com’s Steve Aschburner"
Lue, who was the team’s associate head coach prior to Blatt’s departure, was named the Cavaliers’ head coach Friday. Before the Cavaliers inked him as the highest paid assistant coach in NBA history in June of 2014, the 38-year-old served as an assistant with the Boston Celtics (2009-13) and Los Angeles Clippers (2013-14).
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Haywood also told Sirius XM that Blatt seemed to be “scared” of LeBron James, failing to point out any of James’ flaws while watching film, and calling every foul for LeBron during practice.
"“And we’re like, ‘Hey, you didn’t say anything about that. You’re going to correct when Matthew Dellavedova‘s not in the right spot. You’re going to say something when Tristan Thompson‘s not in the right spot. Well, we see a fast break and LeBron didn’t get back on defense or there’s a rotation and he’s supposed to be there, and you just keep rolling the film and the whole room is quiet.’ We see that as players. That’s when … as a player, you start to lose respect for a coach.“Slowly but surely, that respect started chipping away where he would kind of be scared to correct LeBron in film sessions. When he would call every foul for LeBron in practice. Those type of things add up. Guys are like, ‘C’mon man, are you scared of him?’ ”"
The Cavaliers record currently stands at 30-11, which is good enough for first place in a much-improved Eastern conference. With Tyronn Lue calling the shots, the Cavaliers will look to finish the season strong and reclaim the title of Eastern conference champions.
What do you think of David Blatt’s former player calling him out?
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