Before the Cleveland Cavaliers employed Ty Lue as head coach and eventually won the NBA championship the same year and went on to make two more NBA Finals, they had David Blatt. And coming from Europe, he had the charisma and track record to be in position to coach a highly pressured team like the Cavaliers and LeBron James. But the unexpected eventually happened.
Blatt coached the Cavaliers in 2015 to the second seed and made the NBA Finals. They went to six games against the Golden State Warriors despite losing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Despite that achievement, Blatt didn’t last long. He was fired during the 2015-16 season and the Cavaliers had Lue take over.
The decision was highly debated, with Blatt viewed by many as the scapegoat. It once again placed LeBron under fire, as some saw his influence in the firing and labeled him a coach killer. Speaking recently, Lue made it clear that Blatt’s system simply didn’t fit with LeBron and the roster around him.
Per HoopsHype:
“Look, for me, I think he did a great job. But here’s the thing—when you coach overseas, you are the face of the team. Whatever you say goes, no matter which players are on the roster. You’re in control. But in the NBA? The players are the face of the team. And that’s a totally different dynamic.” “So even if you want to go off on someone—cuss a guy out—you might not be able to do that today. You know what I’m saying? You just can’t do it the same way. But I’ll be honest: his offensive system? It was great. I wish I could run it today. All the stuff he brought over was good stuff. The problem? It didn’t fit with Bron. Bron’s not going to run around the way that system required. Kyrie wants to dance. He’s not coming off curls. Kevin Love isn’t a mover either.” “The offense worked in Europe—but it didn’t match our personnel.”
