Cleveland Cavaliers fire Blatt, hire Lue as new coach

NEW YORK, USA – David Blatt was fired Friday as coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and replaced by associate coach Tyronn Lue, the first coach axed with his team atop an NBA conference.

“I’m measuring more than wins and losses,” Cavaliers general manager David Griffin told a press conference at the Cavaliers’ training facility, which was streamed on the team’s website.

“I’m focusing on a bigger picture and I’m really trying to decide – are we working toward a championship, are we building a championship culture.”

Griffin said he thought Lue would be able to instill a “collective spirit” in Cavaliers players, something he said all elite NBA clubs have and which the Cavs are lacking under Blatt.

Griffin was at pains to say he did not consult superstar LeBron James prior to the move.

He informed the 4-time NBA Most Valuable Player – who rejoined his home state club in 2014 with the goal of bringing a championship to the region – along with the rest of the players after the fact.

“LeBron plays for this team,” Griffin said. “LeBron doesn’t run this organization, he’s about this organization.”

The Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference with a 30-11 record, third-best in the league behind the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs, and figure to be contending for the title again after losing to Golden State in last year’s NBA Finals.

Griffin said a humbling 132-98 loss to Golden State on Monday wasn’t the trigger for Blatt’s sacking.

Instead, he felt that while the Cavaliers had coped well with adversity — including injuries sidelining Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert for the first two months of the season — they were not dealing as well with “prosperity” now that they are largely healthy and on top of the East.

Blatt becomes the seventh NBA coach in 40 years to reach the finals only to be fired the next season.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished since I have been the head coach and wish the Cavaliers nothing but the best this season and beyond,” Blatt said on Twitter.

Questions nagged Blatt

Questions had nagged Blatt almost since the start of his tenure. He had been selected as coach of the team in June 2014 just weeks before James announced he was leaving the Miami Heat to rejoin the Cavaliers.

Suddenly Blatt, who made his name as a coach in Israel and by leading Russia to a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, was guiding a team with nothing less than championship aspirations, payroll and talent.

Blatt leaves his first NBA coaching post with an 83-40 record and a club-record .675 winning percentage.

Lue, himself a former NBA point guard, has a strong relationship with James and other Cavs players as he goes into his first NBA head coaching job.

US media reported Lue had signed a 3-year contract to be the team’s head coach.

However, Griffin said that while Lue has been given the head coach’s title – without an “interim” tag –  such a contract is “absolutely not in place.”  – Rappler.com