Lue thinks fired coach Blatt should still lead East All-Star team

MANILA, Philippines – It isn’t often that the coach of a first-placed team is fired mid-season, but that’s what happened to David Blatt after the Cleveland Cavaliers sent the second year coach packing on Friday.

Blatt had led the Cavs to a 30-11 record to start the season before finding himself out of a job – and a possible spot as the coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

Blatt was replaced by assistant coach Tyronn Lue, who started his career as a head coach inauspiciously at 0-1 after the Cavs lost 96-83 to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, January 24 Manila time.

Lue told reporters before the game against Chicago that he felt Blatt should coach the East in the All-Star Game.

“We’re first in the East, and I think it would be sweet if Coach Blatt could coach the All-Star Game one last time,” Lue was quoted as saying by ESPN.

ESPN speculated that it was unlikely that the NBA would allow a coach who is no longer employed by an NBA team to coach.

The Cavs are currently 30-12, good enough for two and a half games ahead of the Toronto Raptors (28-15).

The coach and staff of the first placed teams from the East and West as of January 31 will lead the conferences’ squads at the All-Star Game, which takes place on February 14 in Toronto.

Cavs star forward LeBron James, who was voted as an All-Star starter this year, denied having any influence over the decision to replace Blatt, but that didn’t stop Israeli fans and columnists from condemning James and claiming he conspired to have the Israeli citizen fired.

Still, Lue isn’t going to pass on the All-Star Game coaching spot if Blatt isn’t allowed to stand in.

“I’m open to do it because I think the rest of our staff deserves it. We all put in hard work, and we’ve all helped Coach Blatt in every way we could, and he was our leader,” said Lue. – Rappler.com