David Blatt’s second NBA season seemed to be going better than his first. Now, it’s over.
Blatt was fired Friday by the title-chasing Cleveland Cavaliers and replaced by top assistant Tyronn Lue, according to general manager David Griffin.
Blatt had guided Cleveland to the NBA Finals last year, and the Cavs had the Eastern Conference’s best record (30-11) midway through this season, but in discussing the coaching change during a news conference late Friday afternoon, Griffin cited “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision.”
“What I see is that we need to build a collective spirit, a strength of spirit, a collective will,” Griffin said. “Elite teams always have that, and you see it everywhere. To be truly elite, we have to buy into a set of values and principles that we believe in. That becomes our identity.”
While acknowledging his 24 years spent working in the NBA in varying capacities, Griffin said of the Cavaliers: “I have never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be. We’ve only been galvanized when expectations were not high.”
Griffin confirmed that Lue will not have an interim tag and will be the full-time coach of the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Yahoo! Sports reported that Lue agreed to a three-year deal, although Griffin said the reported terms were not accurate.
“I am more than confident that he has the pulse of our team and that he can generate the buy-in required to start to refine the habits and culture that we’ve yet to build,” Griffin said.
Blatt thanked the Cavaliers in a statement released by his agency earlier Friday.
“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Blatt said in the statement. “I’d like to thank (owner) Dan Gilbert and David Griffin for giving me this opportunity and am honored to have worked with an amazing group of players from LeBron James, Kyrie Irvingand Kevin Lovethrough our entire roster. I’d also like to express my extreme gratitude to my coaching staff. I am indebted to them for their professionalism, hard work, loyalty and friendship. 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.”
Gilbert credited Blatt for helping the Cavaliers complete their turnaround from the depths they fell to between James’ tenures in Cleveland. He also said that Lue can guide the Cavs to a title.
“We would like to thank David Blatt for his work over these past two seasons where the Cavaliers transformed into a playoff team after a rebuilding phase,” Gilbert said in a statement. “We believe Tyronn Lue is the right coach at the right time to put us in the best position to take the last but most challenging step to complete our mission to deliver Cleveland an NBA Championship.”
NBA coaching sources told ESPN’s Marc Stein that Blatt is intent on coaching in the league again as opposed to immediately returning to the European game, where he was one of the most successful coaches in its history.
James, meanwhile, was informed of the team’s decision to fire Blatt on Friday, sources told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Although James’ fondness for Lue and his desire to be coached by a former player were well-known throughout Cleveland’s organization, James was not directly consulted Friday on the Cavs’ decision to fire Blatt, sources said.
Griffin confirmed that the decision was his alone.
“I didn’t talk to any of the players before this decision,” Griffin said. “It’s really critical to me for everybody to understand this is my decision. This is our basketball staff’s decision. … I’m not taking a poll.”
A team source told ESPN that Lue was a natural choice for the position because his influence within the Cavs was already pronounced from his assistant position. Lue is the highest-paid assistant coach in the league.
“I think it was pretty evident,” the source said. “All the guys went to him for everything anyway.”
A former assistant coach with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, Lue played 11 seasons in the NBA after being a first-round pick of the Denver Nuggets. Griffin noted the history of great coaches whom Lue played under, including Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Van Gundy.
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