Lue replaces fired Blatt as Cavs coach
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t connected on or off the floor under coach David Blatt.
On Friday, he paid the price for that lack of unity.
Blatt was fired by general manager David Griffin, who didn’t think the title-chasing Cavaliers were handling expectations well or acting like a championship team under the second-year coach. Despite Blatt taking Cleveland to the NBA Finals last season and a 30-11 record, Griffin sensed his team was going in the wrong direction.
“Sometimes you can win games in the regular season and get worse,” Griffin said at a hastily arranged new conference at the team’s practice facility. “We were regressing over a period of time. There’s a lack of connectedness and spirit that I just couldn’t accept.”
Griffin said he did not consult LeBron James or any players before making the move to dismiss Blatt, who was surprised to learn he had been dismissed after going 83-40 in two seasons. Griffin also met with owner Dan Gilbert, who supported the move.
Tyronn Lue, who was hired as the team’s associate head coach shortly after Blatt came to Cleveland, will make his debut Saturday night when the Cavs host Chicago. Griffin stressed Lue is not an interim coach and said the team is discussing a contract with him.
As social networks hummed with speculation and opinion about James’ role in the team’s inner workings, Griffin said he made the decision with the basketball staff — not the star.
“I had a conversation with ownership where I got their approval to make this move,” Griffin said. “I’m not taking a poll. My job is to lead the franchise and to lead an organization where it needs to go. That’s what I’m tasked with doing and that’s what I did. I didn’t ask anybody’s opinion on the team. I’m in the locker room. I’ve done this a long time and I know what it’s supposed to feel like. I didn’t need to ask questions.”
Blatt’s dismissal came one day after the coach was defensive before and after Cleveland beat the Los Angeles Clippers. Blatt had been bothered by criticism his team received after a 34-point loss to defending champion Golden State earlier this week.
Blatt seemed to be adjusting to the NBA after his well-documented struggles in 2015 — James’ first season back in Cleveland. Blatt, one of the most successful coaches in European history, was feeling good about the way his team was performing amid overwhelming expectations. But there was a discord that he couldn’t seem to fix.
The relationship between James and Blatt was a running saga last season as the Cavaliers got off to a 1920 start. But the two worked through their differences and won the Eastern Conference title. Despite injuries to All-Stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, Cleveland took Golden State to six games before losing the title.