The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a surprise move earlier today by firing David Blatt despite the fact that the team was leading in the Eastern Conference standings.
Per Cleveland.com, here are the reasons behind Blatt’s surprise dismissal:
- Player accountability
- Mismanaging
- A building frustration
- Absence of hope
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For someone who was able to lead a team filled with injured stars those counts seem debatable. But for the folks who have followed the Cavaliers through the years, many have forgotten why he was taken in primarily.
When he was hired back in 2014, Blatt was expected to teach Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Andrew Wiggins. There was not LeBron James yet in the picture.
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From there, it seemed that Blatt could whip up the Cavs into something. But then James arrived and the Cavs were suddenly a different team. Not long after, Kevin Love followed and Wiggins was gone.
With James back, Waiters was traded to the Thunder. So that left Irving in the picture. By all accounts, Blatt suddenly found himself in a whole new scenario. The Cavs needed someone who can manage egos and the teaching part was of course forgotten.
Blatt tried to hang on but it was evident that the two-year head coach tried to swim with the sharks. Coaching James, Irving and Love in one team isn’t easy, something perhaps made for veteran coaches.
Try as he might to try and appease everyone, the ploy backfired. Blatt was in a fix and eventually lost the confidence of his players and Cavs management took notice via Yahoo Sports.
It didn’t take long however for the Cavs to find a new head coach, Tyronn Lue.
Lue was someone being pushed to take over from Blatt as early as last season and with the recent plight of the Cavs (highlighted by that Golden State blowout) the opportune time came to move.
The decision to replace Blatt comes as a puzzle for most. But for the ones who have been following the Cavs theatrical since 2014, Blatt was a goner when the whole team portfolio changed when the vets started to come on board.
Blatt didn’t seem to mind the axing though he feels he can still coach in the NBA. For now that remains to be seen if some team would take the chance on him. If ever, it should be a team open to learn and preferably a team that needs to be taught and not the other way around.
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