After taking the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals the season before, then leading them to a 30-11 record to start last season, the Cavaliers fired David Blatt. It is example 1,562,947 that in the NBA the players have more power than the coach, and if the players don’t buy in and want the guy in the suit gone, he’s gone.
However, the Cavaliers are going to give Blatt a lovely parting gift (in addition to the millions in salary he was still contractually owed) — a championship ring.
From Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
That’s the right move by Cavaliers. Whatever you think of Blatt the coach, who the Cavaliers are to this day is part him. He did help lay a foundation that Tyronn Lue worked to build upon.
Of course, Blatt isn’t coming to the ring ceremony and banner raising in Cleveland Oct. 25. And I doubt he puts the ring on very often, but he will have a story about the other rings he won coaching in Europe and how they mean just as much.
