Many New York Knicks fans are concerned about David Blatt’s history with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. An NBA executive offered a common theory.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers hired David Blatt in 2014, most members of the basketball community expressed a measure of excitement. Kyrie Irving projected to be a perfect fit in Blatt’s motion offense, which produced legendary results in Europe.
As the New York Knicks ponder the possibility of hiring Blatt in 2018, however, all that his skeptics can seem to think of is one player: LeBron James.
Blatt appeared to be well-liked and respected by his players, but it was going to be James’ show from the moment he signed. James returned to Cleveland after Blatt was hired, however, and there was conflict between the four-time MVP and the coach who wanted to run a motion offense.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, an anonymous NBA executive believes that Blatt’s shortcomings in Cleveland were more about James than the coach.
"“I think all that situation is on LeBron, not David,’’ said an NBA executive familiar with Cavaliers’ soap opera. “Cleveland signed David before LeBron came and LeBron probably wanted to be consulted first. By now, we know who LeBron really is and what he does.’’"
In other words: It wasn’t necessarily that Blatt was incapable of leading the Cavaliers, but that his relationship with James was doomed from the start.
Blatt helped the Cavaliers overcome the loss of Kevin Love in the first round of the 2015 Playoffs to reach the NBA Finals. He even had Cleveland at No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings at the time of his firing in 2015-16.
It’s also worth noting that the Cavaliers allowed 99.7 points per 100 possessions in the 41 games that Blatt coached in 2015-16 and 104.8 in the 41 he didn’t.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers’ championship run sans Blatt has led some to the belief that he was the problem in Cleveland.
True as that may be, Blatt received a great deal of praise from his players, including All-NBA point guard Kyrie Irving. Failing to connect with the franchise player is a flaw, but Blatt is believed by many to have gotten the short end of the stick.
The New York Knicks will at least consider the possibility of giving the European icon a second chance in the NBA, which he’s publicly pursued since leaving Cleveland.
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