The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
International media focuses on new Cavs coach
The eyes of Israel were on new Cavaliers coach David Blatt Oct. 5 as the Cavs tipped off their seven-game preseason schedule at Quicken Loans Arena.
Israel has been Blatt’s home base since 1981, when the Massachusetts native finished his collegiate playing career at Princeton and went to Israel to play professionally.
Now 56 and the holder of dual citizenships in the U.S. and Israel, Blatt began his coaching career in Israel after retiring as a player in 1988.
From 2010 to 2014, he was head coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team that faced the Cavs and Blatt in their preseason opener.
Last season, Blatt led Israel’s most prestigious professional basketball franchise to the Euroleague title.
Blatt’s popularity in Israel was manifested by the presence of Alon Moar from Tel Aviv-based Sports Channel 5 and an estimated 20 fellow
Israeli media members at the preseason game.
Moar said basketball fans in Israel “completely understood” when Blatt left Maccabi Tel Aviv to realize a long-held dream to coach in the NBA.
“Israeli fans wish David Blatt nothing but love and the best of luck,” Moar said.
Blatt, whose wife Kineret and four children are staying in Israel, seemed eager to share the moment with his adopted homeland.
After finishing his pregame press conference with local and U.S. based reporters covering the Cavs, Blatt advised team officials he wanted to have a separate Q&A session with the Israeli reporters.
Smiling easily and speaking in what Moar described as “fluent Hebrew,” Blatt spent about eight minutes with the Israelis before heading back to the Cavs locker room to complete pre-game preparations.
“He talked a lot about how well his transition to the NBA is going and what it’s like to be coaching LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and all the talented players on the Cavaliers,” Moar said, summarizing the chat.
On his climb up the coaching ladder, Blatt left Israel for relatively brief periods to coach professional teams in Russia, Italy, Turkey and Greece.
“Every place I’ve gone, I’ve had to learn to get along in a changing culture,” Blatt said.
Earlier on Oct. 5, Blatt was to have been a featured speaker at a Friends of Israeli Defense Forces breakfast event at the Q.
The event, featuring wounded Israeli military veterans and members of past Maccabi Tel Aviv teams, went off well even though work conflicts forced Blatt to regretfully cancel his speaking engagement at the last minute.