“It’s embarrassing for the league.”
Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t referring to the Philadelphia 76ers and their abysmal 7-39 record nor the Los Angeles Lakers and their 9-38 mark. He was referring to the firing of David Blatt by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the words of Van Gundy, the curious move “elevated all of the coach firings totally into the theater of the absurd.”
Think about it for just a second. Blatt was given the ax in just his second season at the reins, as his team sat in first place in the Eastern Conference. In his first season, he led the Cavaliers all the way to the NBA Finals. With All-Stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving M.I.A. with injuries, his Cavs squad still made Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors work for their first title in 30 years.
I get it. Professional sports are a bottom line business but am I supposed to believe there’s no extra credit for getting close when you have to rely on Matthew Dellavadova as your starting point guard? That alone should’ve earned Blatt three more years as the head honcho, win, lose or draw.
Coaches around the league were justifiably frazzled by the news.
“Back in my day, you used to at least have to lose games before you got fired,” according to Orlando Magic coach Scott Skiles.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle echoed Van Gundy’s remarks in his statement. “I’m embarrassed for our league that something like this could happen. It’s bizarre.”
Never afraid to throw shade, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich got in on the action as well. After his team was shellacked 120-90 by the defending champs, Pop made like Suge Knight at the 2002 BET Awards by stating, “I’m glad my general manager wasn’t in my locker room or I might’ve gotten fired.”
It’s not that nobody saw it coming. There have been rumblings for a while that Cavs star LeBron James was no fan of Blatt’s style of coaching. Blatt was hired before James brought his talents back from South Beach and the superstar didn’t get a say in the hire. Nowadays star coddling is part of the requirement of the position and it’s clear that Blatt was still finding his way in that regards. Still, he was winning.
Recent years have shown though, that simply isn’t enough. The worst thing that ever could’ve happened to NBA coaches was for the Warriors to win the title last season. Why? It was Steve Kerr’s first season at the helm. He replaced Mark Jackson, who was canned after winning 51 games in the 2013-14 season. The Warriors made things worse when Kerr was sidelined for several months after back surgery and interim coach Luke Walton helped lead the Warriors to the best start in NBA history. Maybe Blatt was fired because he didn’t go 24-0 too.
Blatt wasn’t the only questionable coach firing, of course. Former Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale was booted out of the building after just 11 games even though he led them to the Western Conference Finals last season. The Cavs fired Mike Brown in 2010 after a 61-win season, just one year removed from being named NBA Coach of the Year. At the time the move was seen as an effort to keep James in Cleveland. It failed.
Cleveland’s firing of Blatt will fail too. I’m sorry, but essentially allowing James to pick his own coach in Tyronn Lue won’t result in a championship this season. There is almost always an adjustment period and learning curve whenever teams bring in new coaches or new star players. Lue and the Cavs will have to adjust midseason, on-the-fly. Getting rid of Blatt didn’t immediately solve the Cavs chemistry issues either. Love has always seemed like an outsider in the Cleveland and once again the trade rumors are roaring. Lue didn’t waste any time taking shots at his team by claiming that Love and Irving need to focus less on their brands and more on winning. While some believe that Lue will hold James accountable, something that Blatt apparently didn’t do, you can color me a skeptic. After all, James has one of the most meticulously guarded brands in sports and Lue was crickets when it came to his superstar. Lue understands that he’s only the coach because it’s what James wanted and he’ll be hesitant to bite the hands that feed him.
Now the read around the league on James is that he’s a coach killer. The four-time NBA MVP helped push Blatt, Brown and Paul Silas out in Cleveland. According to Miami Heat minority owner Raanan Katz, James tried to get Erik Spoelstra fired in Miami. However, Spoelstra was hand-picked by Pat Riley and unlike anybody in Cleveland, Riley had the juice to say no to King James. As long as Cleveland continues to bend over backwards for James, they’ll continue to be in the backseat when it comes to winning it all. To make matters worse, top flight coaches will not avoid Cleveland like the plague.
Clutch or Nah?
Clutch: Shoutout to Peyton Manning the Denver Broncos defense for sending Tom Brady and the Cheatriots back home. Though I have vowed not to watch a second of playoff football after the NFL played STL to the left, Cam Newton vs Manning in the Super Bowl is an enticing matchup. Knowing that Brady will be watching from home makes it even more sweet.
Clutch: Big ups to heralded boxing training and Knockouts owner Kevin Cunningham, who will join Premier Championship Boxing’s BounceTV commentating crew starting on Jan. 31. Cunningham will join Fran Charles and Austin “No Doubt” Trout.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
