Cavaliers coach Blatt drags his doubters to NBA Finals
OAKLAND— Try as they might, David Blatt won’t bite.
The Cleveland Cavaliers coach will not play along with the convenient storyline that he should somehow be overwhelmed by his circumstances, that he is a first-year coach caught up in the NBA’s biggest moment and should be intimidated by it.
He goes into the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors fully selfconfident, aware of what he has accomplished in his career and not a bit daunted by the atmosphere.
“Well, you should know well that I also coached a lot of games in very big arenas, including the Euroleague final in Milan that we won,” he said. “So, no, I’m not at all uncomfortable or don’t find this at all imposing.
“I’ve been in a few different situations that have hopefully prepared me for this level of competition. Obviously, the NBA Finals is a unique and very special and challenging situation.”
Blatt, 56, has an international coaching pedigree that would be the envy of anyone, his teams have won EuroLeague championships and league titles in Israel and Italy; he coached Russia’s national team to a bronze medal at the London Olympics and gold and bronze medals at EuroBasket competitions. He has been the coach of the year in the EuroLeague, Russia and Israel, a career marked by consistent success.
“It’s thrilling and it’s exciting and it’s joyful. I’ve been in situations like this before many times.” DAVID BLATT CAVALIERS HEAD COACH
Still, since he is not of the NBA and didn’t come up through the North American ranks, he will be questioned about his background incessantly, even if it is coloured by success.
“It’s thrilling and it’s exciting, and it’s joyful to be in this situation; is it at all unusual or uncomfortable for me?” he asked rhetorically this week. “No, I’ve been in situations like this before many times.”
His history and pedigree notwithstanding, there have been difficult moments for Blatt, who was hired two weeks before LeBron James turned around the fortunes of the franchise by returning to it.
There were reports of rifts between he and the strong-willed James at the start of the season, and it took months and a couple of key trades for the Cavs to sort themselves out. In the conference semifinals against Chicago, Blatt almost cost his team a game by trying to call a timeout it didn’t have and then, famously, James made it known he changed a last-second Blatt play call that would have had James make an in-bounds pass rather than take a game-winning shot.
“I thought just the way he’s handled everything, the way they righted the ship and whatever other cliché you want to use, weathered the storm, I thought he handled it well,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who interviewed Blatt in June for a spot on the Warriors staff. “It’s one of the big reasons why they’re here right now. Their whole team dealt with all that adversity really well, and they’ve gotten better and better ever since.”
The turmoil of the season played right into the narrative that suggests Blatt is either over his head or in conflict with James, even though James came to his coach’s defence this week.
“Any time someone is scrutinized really for nothing, I’m able to relate,” James said. “For him in his instance, obviously, we knew there were a lot of people that were going to say things that didn’t mean much, but that’s just what they have to do. That’s what helps sales.
“People love reading the negative things more than the positive things, and I think he’s handled the situation unbelievably being a rookie coach in the NBA and being able to take this team to the Finals, I think he’s done a hell of a job.”
And if it ends in the ultimate success — a title in his first year — he will not hold over his detractors.
“I told somebody recently, I’m not a vindictive person, so I don’t feel the need for vindication in any way,” he said.