At the time of his firing halfway through the season, David Blatt had the Cleveland Cavaliers sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-12. Even if he wasn’t getting along with LeBron James, can you blame Blatt if he sits at home feeling like he should be the one coaching the Cavs in the NBA Finals rather than Tyronn Lue?
Blatt, who recently signed a contract to return to Europe and coach a team in Turkey, said in an interview overseas that he can’t bring himself to watch his former team play for a championship. A Reddit user translated the YNet.com interview to the best of his ability (we checked it with Google translation).
“Let me tell you the truth, it was hard for me watching the last games,” Blatt said. “I can’t watch the Finals. So I just don’t watch the games and I settle reading the results on the internet. The playoffs I would still watch, but not more than that.”
With the Cavs having reached the Finals last season, Blatt essentially confirmed that he was stunned he was let go after a 30-12 start.
“I can’t think of any reason in the world. Maybe for them, thinking forward, I wasn’t the person to lead,” he said. “It hurt me very bad. It surprised me, I didn’t feel well, but you move on. There are disappointments in life, the question is what do you do when you take a blow. I could have coached in the NBA next season. It’s more about timing. Sometimes great coaches have to sit outside.”
Blatt added that he likes to think of the way his time in Cleveland ended as failing to keep his job, not failing at his job. Even Lue, who was given Blatt’s job, reportedly disagreed with the Cavs’ decision to fire Blatt.
If you were surprised by the move, you must have forgotten all about this exchange between Blatt and LeBron last year. The relationship was never going to work out.
H/T Ball Don’t Lie
