Why David Blatt Was Fired By The Cavaliers

[@johnpark4498]

Honestly, after watching this video, I'm rather impressed that Coach Blatt was able to keep the Cavs on top of the Eastern Conference for so long

[@DrunkBastard]

That's a good point. However, other teams in the East show some level of dysfunction as well and many of the teams are up-and-comers (young teams).

[@johnpark4498]

+Shadow9220 While I do realize that the Cavs have the "big 3" and the rest of the east are pretty bad, it's notable how coach Blatt kept the team on top without criticizing the star players' mistakes/lack of effort

[@johnpark4498]

+Drunk Bastard Tru, west is and has been better than the east for a while now

[@jasons4045]

+jonny parker bot really the east have been low-key good this season. Hornet is looking pretty good, Wolves, Knicks, Bulls and damn Raptors are back again i hope they won't disappear again after all star break (because they did last season)

[@johnpark4498]

+Jason Saw sure they're looking better than last year, but look at the west. 4 loss Warriors, 6 loss Spurs, third place okc that could easily be #1 in the east, fourth place Clippers have a better record than #2 toronto. Idk but the west is on fire rn

[@Hecameup]

I doubt Blatt will take another coaching job in the US..... The guy was THE most successful coach in Euro Ball and was treated like shit over here.

[@Hecameup]

Nihilism Wolf lol true

[@vagvll]

he is respected but Blatt is not consider as the best coach in Europe.

[@Cameraon528]

+Hecameup Nah he can come to the warriors :). Steve Kerr wanted him as an assistant in the first place. He might as well go there now and watch the Cavs continue to dysfunction while enjoying some camaraderie with a great organization.

[@Svarog187]

+Hecameup Blatt is for sure not THE most successful Coach in Euro Ball!!

[@popeyeisgood]

+Hecameup i agree. blatt doesnt look like a charming leader based on how close his eyes are to each other. but in no way he should be disrespected the way lebron and co did to him. literally from the get go as he was hired he has been ridden on by lebron like a little puppy.

[@CasterShellz]

His firing was premeditated. The fact that they signed Tyronn Lue to a 3-year deal proves that there was a strong contingent in the organization that wanted to hire Lue as head coach from the get-go, despite if LeBron returned or not. LeBron returning made it all the more awkward. They wanted to give the job to Tyronn Lue all along because he was an NBA journeyman as a player and a coach. He had respect. Blatt is a legend overseas...but had no NBA experience. LeBron and others didn't respect his lack of experience. I enjoyed this breakdown though.

[@bballbreakdown]

+Yung Shonen Yes, I agree.Thanks

[@nicolamontori]

+Yung Shonen the fact is that Blatt has right now more experience than Lue probably will ever have. NBA players sometimes forget that basketball is not only NBA and even if the style can be different in europe, if someone as proven as Blatt is your coach, you have to respect him no matter what. The players acted like unprofessional 3 years old, and the gm didn't had the balls to put lebron against the wall even if lebron's contract's power is so huge.

[@CasterShellz]

+Nicola Montori I agree that Blatt has substantial head coaching experience but I'm just stating how NBA insiders look at it. The players and coaches didn't respect his decisions because he was basically an NBA rookie. But in Blatt's defense, he suggested changes and adjustments that helped the team make a surge in the 2nd half of the season and make it to the Finals. Getting JR Smith & Shumpert. Bringing up Dellevedova. Acquiring his longtime player Timofey Mozgov. Switching to a more defensive oriented style. All of this had Blatt's fingerprints on it. I just believe that MANY people in the organization wanted Lue over Blatt. And this entire ordeal reeks of Dan Gilbert.

[@nicolamontori]

The Cavs organization makes me laugh because not only they won't reach the finals this year with Lue, but also wouldn't have reached them last year without the adjustments Blatt made to make it work. Being an ex NBA player doesn't automatically make you a better coach. If GMs, insiders and players can't understand that I think they will substantially fail for their own fault.

[@CasterShellz]

+Nicola Montori Naw they're getting to the Finals 😂😂 They're just not beating whoever comes out of the West

[@crtsbrown3]

Coach this is a great video, all I think Blatt needs are players that work hard and love the game, unfortunately he got hired by a team that lacks consistency and effort. I think its safe to say that LeBron has the most power out of anyone in the Cavaliers organization.

[@Miltonman100]

Im a lbj fan but he got hired before lebron came back to cleveland.He was expecting a young team with 0 expectations then all of a sudden the return comes up and he has all of these expectations and media frenzy on him for 1.5 years and i feel bad for the guy.I personally dont think hes a bad coach at all he was just a victim of unreal expectations

[@crtsbrown3]

Miltonman100 Exactly

[@djalinarz5684]

+Miltonman100 well said, totally agree

[@nardlayza0207]

+Curtis Brown A.K.A Cleveland Lebrons

[@InTecknicolour]

+Curtis Brown they aren't going to win with tyrone lue. the team is lazy and complacent. lebron says he wants to win a ring for cleveland but he doesn't bring 100% effort every night. i also hate how some of the other players play on the team. JR smith is a overrated bum and he doesn't deserve to win anything with the way he approaches the game. i'm very disappointed in how kevin love has played in cleveland. he looks out of place and lost half the time.

[@TO-ph4kx]

What kind of leader throws a game to get back at his coach?

[@vivianalajdi5740]

Please this video gives zero context at all. You can pull 10 plays out of 100 every game for every player to prove your desired point.

[@dwill1804]

+Henry Kidd I guarantee you cannot find more than 1 play for any Spurs player giving that lack of effort during a game, because they would be buried underneath the bench if they did

[@yaboiyosef7640]

+Henry Kidd neither lebrons disrespect to blatt nor his bad defence can be called 10plays out of 100 games sorta things, especially as the best player on the team

[@rellykz2175]

Kd's done it, KLove, Kyrie, Curry, Boogie lets keep going? These players usually are lost on defense with the exception of some who have improved now but there are clips of players like Boogie who doesnt even guard his man, curry used to get bullied and didnt know who to pickup if you watched his old games theres a reason why the warriors never amounted to anything until the emergence of their offensive sets combo'ed with the addition of many great defensive players to cover for the weaker defenders. Klove still cant play defense i dont even wanna talk about that... these are all the leaders of their once respective teams and they would sometimes just stand around rather than contest there are clips everywhere if you would like to look into them.

[@Oldcartoons571]

+Thai Ngo It's true that many players, especially stars with a heavy offensive load, don't play defense often times. However, Kevin Love's problem isn't necessarily effort, it's skill. He was certainly trying to think ahead on that Green pick, but was fooled. He tried to recovered by was way too late. He gave effort out there, he's just bad on defense. What Lebron is doing in the clips shown is not even give effort. Note his lack of doing much of anything in the clips shown. He wasn't running around like the Love, he was taking it easy. If we hadn't gotten so much seemingly accurate information about Lebron hating Blatt and wanting other coaches, then we would have no reason to speculate. Lebron reportedly never liking his coach, not making much effort to buy in, etc gives us reason to speculate.

[@hGodly]

He was fired because he didn't win a championship in his rookie year coaching the NBA? Lmao standards and I hate the Cavs GM

[@theJordanof23]

Seriously, those standards are ridiculous.

[@nightdonutstudio]

but if player and coach does not get along well, it better make some change soon. we do not want see players are a mess during playoff. then it is too late.

[@hGodly]

***** so if that is the standard then it's fine if 29 coaches will be fired each year

[@lovelldela3919]

Lebron wants more control over the team

[@williammitchell9409]

+Jovante Campbell That's because he had players that were willing to accept new changes to their roles (ex: Shawn Livingston, and Andre Iguodala).

[@TheKing-md3rl]

Everyone on the Cavs should be ashamed right now. You get paid millions to play basketball and can't even act like a professional towards your coach. This all happened because they saw Lebron disrespecting Blatt and followed him since he is the leader of the team. Great breakdown, agree with everything.

[@dinospumoni5611]

Just checking in

[@williamerazo3921]

One a championship

[@Phoenix-pm2qr]

Lmao cry harder. It proved it was the right thing to do. Even in 2025, Lue is coaching the clippers to a better record then they should have

[@pranith001]

This could end up being worse than "The Decision" for Lebron. Didn't know that the best player of this generation could be such an unprofessional child.

[@TRxh98]

oh stfu

[@pranith001]

Breezy is he not tho? The team follows his lead

[@DiegoFelipeDr]

+pranith001 its just his classic passive-aggressive attitude

[@turtles6610]

Shut the fuck up. The decision only upset whiny babies.

[@Marmalada180]

+pranith001 he's not the best player of this generation.

[@gfunkgfunk]

Finally someone reputable points it Lebron's lack of effort defensively

[@chuchioner]

Did you not listen to what coach said..hes always good on d..He just happened to be upset at blatt which is why he lacked effort the game.

[@BroodingPeeps]

+chuchioner Being upset is one thing. Systematically refusing to play the game to make the coach look bad is another.

[@yaboiyosef7640]

+chuchioner always good on d? It's not just these few games when he's upset, he's been incredibly lazy defensively since about 2014

[@ThousandairesClub]

+Charles White 3:40 YOU WOT

[@KS-jn7bs]

+Jonah Qi Facts. I'm still stunned that he let Kawhi Leonard put up 23 PPG on 69%FG in the last three games of the '14 Finals. It's not just a lack of effort, he's clearly lost a step.

[@taylorgang221000]

Can't wait for blatt to find another job in the league and completely scorch the league.

[@LeBeautiful_RealOne]

+protectyaneck__ Hopefully in a better situation. Not this bullshit

[@synerglst]

+protectyaneck__ no, just scorch the cavs

[@t4d0W]

+Abdiel Neris he made do with what he had. He was content in sitting it out 3-4 years with a youth rebuild. But when Lebron came back the franchise went with a win now approach and tried to get available talent to make it work. You think Dellavedova wasn't part of Blatt's development? And when the Cavs started reaching for more vet starts to shore things up in the depth chart of course you can't develop them since they damn already peaked. The only thing you are right in is he effectively lost the team in the long run. Since the team really lives and dies with Lebron.

[@taylorgang221000]

+Abdiel Neris hard to control a locker room when lebron is huffing and puffing back stage and overriding his decisions. He bitching him in front of everybody so no one really takes him seriously.

[@adequatepianist570]

+protectyaneck__ A move to the T'Wolves would probably allow him to wreak havoc on the league in 3 or so years.

[@JayNowitzki]

Because Lebron is the gm, Coach, and star

[@NY101jah]

hes also the PG and PF

[@EndoTelevision]

+NY101jah and Center...and Off Guard...

[@nightdonutstudio]

lebron can play all five position.

[@rahowhero]

+Kai Liu true, if the cavs are happy with being 2nd at best.

[@rahowhero]

+rahowhero actually he is no centre, but can play the other 4.

[@robbyrockets1]

Blatt is a brilliant coach, Popovich called what happened to him bullshit. Pop offered to have Blatt on his staff, but as you could imagine Blatt turned it down.

[@BlackkJesus]

The reason I can't consider lebron as a legend or one of the greatest of all time and the reason I would choose other players like Kobe over him. Kobe in 06 with a bad team would never give up, he always played with effort, with energy, he played to win every game.

[@abdulazizahmed8584]

Was Kobe 31 and played in the finals 5 consecutive years lmfao that's a retarded logic buddy

[@abdulazizahmed8584]

+MrBrenman21 huh so LeBron holding Melo, Granger, and Pierce to all shooting under 40% is not playing both ends of the floor HUH?!!! Also Kobe had low post presence to throw it to wither its Shaq, Gasol, or Bynum. And LeBron plays in a MUCH MORE HIGH PACED ERA GTFO YA DUMB BITCH

[@justinboateng8728]

+MrBrenman21 he was also not 31 and was not playing as much for the beginning of his career

[@abdulazizahmed8584]

+IM REALLY BOUT TO GETCHA YA exactly good catch bruh jeep telling FACTS hold this W fam

[@blackmayb3]

You disappoint me black Jesus

[@jasonjasonson9154]

Hahahahahah as soon as he said Kawhi has eclipsed LeBron as a player i had to pause the video and just laugh for a good 5 mins xDxDxD

[@RogerWareInc]

yawn

[@TheDudeAbides1998]

+jason jasonson Do you need glasses? If Lebron can't blow by his man or get wide open looks, this is why we laugh at you lebron fans love bringing up stats! To sum it up really quickly, Lebron is overrated.

[@TheDudeAbides1998]

Stephen Curry There was plenty of one on one, and Lebron can't get the shots he wants. Just like Iggy did. Lebron hates contested shots.

[@TheDudeAbides1998]

Stephen Curry How about when it counts? :)

[@TheDudeAbides1998]

Stephen Curry when all the marbles are on the line.

[@jaimecruces2138]

And now the Cavs are probably top 10 worst defenses in the league

[@dinospumoni5611]

Nah Chomps

[@DMalltheway]

@@dinospumoni56113/4 losses, not great

[@anitaraman7796]

The reason David Blatt was fired was because he refused to call Lebron boss and was actually a pretty good coach.

[@paulspitz2354]

I'm watching this after they fired his replacement tyron lue

[@Senomi98]

I can still remember how the Maccabi won the Euroleague in 2014 in an upset against the Real Madrid (best team by far that year) despite being the "worst" team of the final four. I cant believe how people whose job is to play basketball can do this thing. This team does not deserve a championship. Hope coach Blatt can find an NBA team to coach cause I want to see how far he can get them.

[@CustomFitted]

No matter how anyone rationalizes it, it didn't make a lick of sense to fire him given the success they've been having. Which means the only logical and evident conclusion that can be made is LeGM wanted him gone. And your alternative after firing him is Tyron Lue???? really? You fire him just to get Tyron Lue, who was already an assistant on Blatt's staff anyway??? This has LeCoach written all over it, cmon now

[@nightdonutstudio]

but if the chemistry of the team is getting worse. player and coach does not get along well. player does not listen to coach. things will only get worse. if it does not work well, time to make some change.

[@CustomFitted]

Kai Liu and who's fault is it they can't listen to the coach?

[@vivianalajdi5740]

Lebron said perfectly, it's not about wins. He's been on teams that won 55 plus games and at the end of the year couldn't win it all because of the intangible they were lacking, and he could sense that this team as it is and was not mentally there and would not be with Blatt.

[@CustomFitted]

Henry Kidd well that's because Lebron never respected or accepted Blatt in the first place.

[@yaboiyosef7640]

+Creative exactly. Coach Nick said this when Lebron joined the cavs, that if Lebron, being the best player on the team bought into blatts system, the rest of the team would too. However, he has gone and done the exact opposite, shoving blatt aside, making it impossible for the rest of the team to respect blatt

[@vreplay7674]

Great video coach. I feel for Blatt, after you showed how hard can be coaching in the NBA

[@bballbreakdown]

+Vicente Santiago Thanks!!

[@TheLOnelyMegic]

Damn good video, gave me the chills

[@justus8177]

Bron petty as hell for that blazers game 😂

[@AM-dl7ot]

LeBron just needed to blame someone for loss in the finals, so again, he blamed it on coach.

[@lionheartstanza]

Really lost a lot of respect for Lebron after this one.

[@Miltonman100]

Ill take blatt on the rockets

[@DrunkBastard]

Although I'd rather see him join the Clippers staff, he'd do well with the Rockets roster too. The only problem I see is Dwight. He sulks like LeBron a lot.

[@jasonjasonson9154]

Fuck no i wouldnt.

[@Miltonman100]

+jason jasonson he could join as a defensive assitant

[@jasonjasonson9154]

Miltonman100 yeah i would take him as an assistant but not as a head coach. He isnt a leader of men. You need a leader of men to be successful.. look at the great coaches Phil Jackson Pat Riley Greg Popovich Doc Rivers etc etc all great leaders of men... sure thye have strategies but what they do best is get the most out of each player.. something David Blatt is not capable of.

[@_templesleeper]

+Miltonman100 Blatt would have the same problems on the Rockets as he did on the Cavs. The "leader" of the Rockets is a subpar defender who has shown lack of effort and other guys on the team, like Dwight, have other attitude problems. Although they'd probably be more likely to try out Blatt's offense, they can't be a contender with the attitude issues.

[@chrisbroussard8335]

David Blatt got fired for WINNING!!! SMHD... I'M a Cavs fan and is still pissed about this. Yes Lue is a good coach but I believe Blatt was a better coach.

[@DMalltheway]

The worse part is LeBron never respected him from the beginning nor ever gave him the chance. David Griffin should’ve backed his coach up and told LeBron to shove it like Pat Riley did.

[@wyattcrosher]

Favorite video you've made thus far. Coming from a Cavs fan, I totally see what you're saying in this. Great work.

[@Yogi5D]

The title should say LeBron James fired his coach

[@liorzisman2968]

(Magnificent commentary and great observations! Coach Blatt is a huuuuuge coach (i've seen most games in europe but they just totally did not want to cope with his system. plus, lebron putting up resistance just caused other players to 'rebel' and the downfall was sure to happen. not sure what they happen to achieve next. blatt was not the problem. will the players accept another coach? that coach will unlikely be as good as Blatt, and i dont see how they plan to compete on championships like this.

[@TELEthruVOXx]

Right on, and coach was willing to say what we're all thinking.... The team quit. All the NBA tv analysts guys won't dare say that. They just drink the cool aid and keep patting lebron on the back

[@MrMathsimon]

+Lior Zisman I hope another team in the East gets spot #1. That will be a good revenge for Coach Blatt.

[@evanniemeyer4148]

Lol

[@Coolkid5800]

Only 20 seconds of advertisement, and thje full video? Step in the right direction?

[@bballbreakdown]

+Nathan Adeleye If you want clean videos without any ads in front, watch on our website or the mobile app!

[@Ryan-yu5kt]

+BBALLBREAKDOWN you think you can do a video on the way the Thunder have been playing during this win streak?

[@kaariem]

=]

[@SSEF15]

+Kariem Abozyid Do you think these videos take 10 minutes to make? No, he sits down and scours game film and then goes to editing which is just as time consuming. He's doing all that without a single penny from any of us but the bills are still there. On top of that there's a slider bar that lets you skip the start if you don't want to watch them ads. Think about his circumstances before you talk shit about the man's way of making a living.

[@Begeaux]

+BBALLBREAKDOWN It doesn't seem like all your videos are on your website, though. I would use your website, otherwise. If I visit the site and go to "Videos", I can't find any of the most recent videos on the front page. In fact, it gives me links to podcasts and articles, which is really odd considering it says "VIDEOS" in all caps at the top. Because of things like that, the site is too awkward to navigate, imo. I mean no disrespect, simply trying to share my experience with the website in order to help you guys keep improving. I have a very old smartphone (so it's even doubtful I could even install it) and really need all the memory space I can get, so I'm not in the position to download and use the app.

[@st00dz]

when he zoomed in on blatts face after saying ty lue highest paid assistant ever lmaoooooo... love your vids coach!

[@fortuneone6632]

Blatt wouldn't go down 3_1 in 2016

[@hammerandclaw]

LeBron's fingerprints are all over every major move that the Cavs have made since he returned to the team. First the Love trade, then Thompson's huge contract, and now this. Doesn't seem to be working out so well does it? He needs to stop trying to be the GM and concentrate on his game because the window for him to win a championship in Cleveland is closing quickly.

[@p-money33]

+hammerandclaw Agreed except for one thing, I think his championship window is gone. Unless he magically learns how to shoot, given how much he uses the ball, no way the Cavs beat Spurs, Warriors or Thunder. And if he signs max 5 year 140 million this summer or w/e it's projected to be... lol he should be happy with 2

[@hammerandclaw]

+Patrick Ikhena Quite possibly yeah. His athleticism has definitely declined since he left Miami and his jump shot isn't good enough to compensate. His defense is also a real problem. In fact the team defense as a whole is a real problem. They need to trade Kevin Love - though I'm not sure who will take him with his big contract.

[@Plague_Doc22]

+hammerandclaw I dispise people like you who say stuff without really thinking about it. Before Lebron went to the Cavs the team was predicted to be complete crap and be in rebuild mode with the first pick in Wiggins. Then LeBron joins because he wants to win a chip in Cleveland and they have to switch that rebuild mentality in to contendending for a title, thus trading for a proven player in Love. Letting Thompson go when you're trying to win a championship would be retarded. I'd be like the MJ bulls letting go of Rodman when MJ was all about winning.

[@hammerandclaw]

+Plague Doc Oh please. Thompson is nowhere near Rodman's level. They gave him all that money and he's averaging, what, 8 rebounds? He can't score and he can't pass. And Love was never a good fit for that team -- he's a sieve on defense and isn't doing anything offensively other than shooting 3s. They may as well have got someone like Ryan Anderson if that was what they wanted. Tell me, do you really think this is a championship calibre team?

[@p-money33]

Plague Doc It's not just the fact that Thompson is basically Love's backup, doesn't start and earns more money than Draymond Green. That's actually true, let's just dwell on that for a second.... But they had already paid Varejao, and were committed to playing Love the max, and yet still went ahead and paid Thompson like he's the best PF in the game. Now they have no cap space, heavy luxury tax and can't sign anyone of note even if Lebron came to his senses and took a moderate pay cut. With the tv money coming in, this was the one season that you need cap space, maybe not enough to offer the max, but definitely more than the vereran's minimum and mid level exception that the Cavs have

[@MrWatchmen759]

But ESPN always hyping lebron defense

[@DaFuture14]

+Mr scar well I think we all know that DisESPN is for idiot.s

[@MrSmurf459]

+Mr scar Lebron has good defense but over the past year and a half i've seen major inconsistency with him! You can have all the defense in the world but if you dont display it 9/10 times or at least 8/10 times then this will happen! Right now i see him play 6/10 times and that is not good enough!

[@MrWatchmen759]

Waddup Is like lebron owns espen

[@JoshuaSeeley1111]

this video proves Lebron is no Jordan..you would have NEVER seen MJ do what LeBron did here (and throughout his career)..quitting on his team!

[@gor9027]

As a Cavs fan, the firing definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Firing a coach with a 30-11 record at the halfway point of the season is unprecedented. I think Blatt deserved another year to see if the Cavs could get over the hump and win a Finals series. However, it seems like Blatt was never able to get the respect of his players and most importantly, LeBron. And I don't know if firing Blatt and promoting Lue will help put the Cavs over the top in a best of 7 against the Warriors or Spurs (if they can find a way to upset the Warriors). Bottom line: if the Cavs don't win a title, this will be added to the Cleveland Sports curse footage and this firing will leave a big stain on the organization.

[@soulchorea]

Bron did that same exact "I'm gonna check out of this game" mad times over the years; the one that stands out the most to me is against the Celtics his last year in Cleveland before he left for Miami

[@CREOLEHEAT]

They should've never hired Blatt in the first place if they were gonna basically have Lue waiting in the wings. The Cavs never played better on BOTH ends of the floor than they did from March 2015- January 2016. They were top 5 in offense & defense. Only considered second to GS & some had them as the best. They had a healthy mix of scoring, passing, defense, & rebounding. When you look at what Blatt was fired for, it really doesn't make sense. Blatt was too scared to call out Love, Irving, & James but Lue played JR Smith & Thompson 30+ mins a night despite them not giving much of anything. The Cavs made three Finals with Lue against a weaker East & never took a series lead against GS. Not even a 1-0 lead. They lead 2-1 in 2015 without Kyrie & Love & could've went back to Cleveland up 2-0 if LeBron doesn't miss that step back in game 1. Yes, coming back down from 3-1 was an amazing & challenging feat but taking a 2-1 lead with two of your three best players hurt is amazing & Blatt doesn't get any props for that then & now. Blatt made mistakes that you would expect from a rookie coach trying to win a title. But, he did a damn good job his 1.5 seasons. Cavs defense has been bottom tier since they fired him. All that improved under Lue was offense & that's slightly. They couldn't even win two games across two finals series.

[@Ma1q444]

Lebron had a usage rate of 32.8% in that game against Portland I don’t think he was “away from the action.” Cavs we’re coming of hard fought Christmas game with they were prolly lazy.

[@leongaines3805]

Can you make a video on how the Bulls beat the Cavs. I mean Blatt was gone and they still lost.

[@Shun8881]

From a legendary coach to...this. Wish David Blatt the best. I wouldn't be surprised if he returns to Europe to coach.

[@TeamRetroVideos]

Lebron needs to be coached, not coach himself and his team mates. I say bring in coach tibs.

[@Miltonman100]

Exactly

[@no.daveed]

+TeamRetroVideos Bring in Bobby Knight!!!!!!!!

[@Marmalada180]

+TeamRetroVideos whats stopping him from boycotting Tibs if he feels he's being played too many minutes?

[@jasons4045]

+TeamRetroVideos well...you gotta bring a coach that proves himself worthy to coach LBJ, as he's not your average player hahahaha. Too bad tho they signed Lue..

[@thebutlerdidit365]

Fuck no that would be some shit if Cavs got thibs

[@ReCharredSigh]

1st of all, thanks coach nick for actually putting the entire david blatt video on youtube, I really appreciate that. i''m sure i'm not the only one who feels this way. LeBron may not have had his fingerprints over firing blatt directly, but his actions from coming to Cleveland until now definitely didn't suggest lebron would've run through a wall if coach blatt asked him to. maybe this was why LeBron left Miami; pat riley wasn't going to let him call the shots there and get spolestra fired. i get that sometimes some nba front offices are incompetent. but that doesn't mean a player's input will automatically be better than that front office's decision making (that wiggins trade really may come back to haunt the cavs, seeing how the league is trending more and more towards swingmen who can hit 3s and play d, and away from post up big men like love who can't defend) i think this is the hardest LeBron's pr will be hit since his "not 1 not 2 not 3" speech in miami. i'm not going to be surprised if opposing arenas mercilessly boo LeBron for being a coach killer, whether it's true or not.

[@timothylane3196]

Now they need him as the coach

[@1ajw23]

Coach Nick! great video! not sure if anyone is a NHL fan as well but this is similar to the situation the Pittsburgh Penguins faced with Mike Johnston. Lots of player (especially stars) indifference toward effort, leading to a coach firing. The new coach seems to be working for the Pens though so hopefully the same will happen for the Cavs.

[@OPL21stJS]

The Reason the HEAT was a better team is because Wade had maturity. His role as #1 had to become Robin and he stuck to it. Wade is a great teammate and Teacher and thats what makes Wade a great player and something he needs to learn. Ppl said Wade was gonna be injury proned, lol look at Kyrie. Bosh atleast played good D. Love just sucks at defense.

[@OPL21stJS]

Lebron needs to learn*

[@Plague_Doc22]

A full video? with not having to go to the website or the app?! Well I be damn, you actually listened to us.

[@zero1188]

kevin love better watch his back. hes next in line to take the blame if LeBron does not win

[@gonzalezajason831]

Lebron will take blame too but I agree

[@bballbreakdown]

+zero All the players thought they were being called in to hear that Love had been traded...

[@shinobu2394]

+zero not necessarily a bad thing for love, i bet he wants out of his situation

[@Fllemingo]

+zero I think they'll keep him and if they don't win a championship he'll get traded. Perhaps even if Cavs go on a losing streak.

[@duketogo315]

+BBALLBREAKDOWN Hey coach, I was wondering if you could do a video on why kevin durant is not scoring enough 40+ points as he use to in previous seasons. I have only seen him score one 40+ this season. Has he declined or is it coach Donovan's system?

[@kyrieirvgoat2148]

Thank you for making this

[@Ma1q444]

I like Lebron but what he did to blatt was complete ignorance.

[@youssefmalaeb6757]

Wow what an outstanding video coach, perfect analysis of such a hot topic situation! Definitely changed my view on the whole situation

[@rayj7578]

I always felt bad for coach Blatt man, those guys just did not give him the respect he deserved, never treated him right. I could totally tell he was walking on egg shells with those super stars. Working with Super stars was probably such a different environment for him. Great coach wasted on such unprofessional arrogant, hot heads.

[@pdprosch]

Solid video, Coach! It's a shame the players didn't give Blatt's offensive system a chance (at least that's what I think happened). I could watch that type of offense all day.

[@AndyL8]

Funny to watch this now.... Blatt might not have clarity in rotation, but Tyronn Lue hasn't got the balls to change the line up. Lebron just doesn't like to play defence. When the ball is not in his hands, he not very good at all. Easy to understand why Kyrie left this crap

[@edouardchan9445]

good video, it puts everything in perspective and exposes some facts that flew under the radar

[@theSUBVERSIVE]

I knew some of these things, like how LBJ simply dismissed the Princeton offense and even said that he has passed the time when he needs to ask when he wants to change, or the way he said scratch that and give me the ball, or the bumps and disrespect on court, etc. but this is much worse than I antecipated, this is unethical, unprofessional and childish way of dealing with things, but passive aggressive is typical of LBJ though. As good as he is, he will never be in a situation nowhere near what the Spurs have. But one thing must be said, I know that it's hard to work with a group that have never ever respected you, even treated you like a rookie, but when Blatt put his head down and allowed LBJ and Co. to do whatever they felt like, then it was sealed that you would never get that respect back. It would had been better if he had voiced himself when he felt disrespected rather than accepting it because it's LBJ and his "bros", even if that meant that he would had been fired earlier, it's much better than postponing it when you know that it's not going anywhere, because the result would had been the same, except you would had left head high. I doubt that Blatt had no clue that this was coming, but I do understand, he probably felt like he had until the offseason and if he had won the Championship he would had proven it. But it's just like a bad relationship, that's not a victory.

[@theSUBVERSIVE]

BTW, this is the same thing Harden pulled off against McHale when he wanted him fired. Except that it looked just like Harden's usual D and they were not #1 in their conference, plus they were going downhill.

[@williammitchell9409]

Well, Coach Blatt wasn't coaching adults in the first place. I understand that the Cavs have potential, but they will always get exposed by teams (such as the GSW and SAS) because they are not willing to to create a TEAM- BASKETBALL-PHILOSOPHY and have players accept their role from their coach. Those players are lucky that they have talent, any other group of players would immediately get benched (if not demoted to the D-League).

[@theSUBVERSIVE]

Yeah, I made a similar comment, you'll never be able to have a culture like the Spurs if you have such a childish behaviour and this part of LBJ is so overrated, people end up messing how talented he is, maybe even in his understanding of the game with his actual maturity, which he doesn't really have. But in part I get, he grew up in the spotlight and that was never in him nor he had a true example, I guess. I remember a few years ago when I looked at both LBJ and D12, and they were all about joking and goofying around even during games, on the side line. They didn't have that same thing of getting on court and becoming somebody else, like Kobe, KG, etc. they were not focused. It took LBJ too long to add a post up game, imagine if he had worked on that earlier instead of his 5th or 6th year in the league? His mental breakdowns when things are not going well is another proof of his mental weakness when compared to other greats. His breakdown when they lost to the Mavs or any other time. Against the Warriors in the Finals was the first time I saw him giving his all despite things not going that well. It took him 10 years to get to that point. I'm fine with him not being mature or behaving like that, I mean, everybody has flaws, but don't delude yourself or act like you are more than you actually are, don't try to be something else, be more humble and work on it, it's as simple as that. I just think it's stupid when people go all the way to try to be something they are not. No wonder LBJ is always defensive, passive aggressive. And it totally makes sense when they say that Pop likes players that are comfortable within themselves, because by knowing who you are, who knows what you are good at and what you have to work on, you don't try to do more than you can handle and it makes much easier to work as a team.

[@nicholasneo3095]

wow thanks coach you really shone alot of light onto the issue. whats done is done and im sure coach blatt will be better off somewhere else too.

[@onelove_eima]

Blatt needs to return to Cavs now, babey! 🔥

[@PeeedaPan]

amazing analysis Coach, this why I subscribed

[@ZombieZifiction]

lebron ruined the franchise yet again. they would have been better off with wiggins. feel sorry for them. they're going to suck for the next 5+ years.

[@uchihamadara4294]

30-12 very trash. They might as well tank. Right ?

[@ZombieZifiction]

+randomcommeentguy 655 they're not winning shit, they have an aging star, fired a good coach, crappy contracts with thompson and love. they're screwed. i would've much rather had wiggins and irving and build a legit team around them from the ground up, like the warriors did with their team.

[@jasons4045]

+ZombieZifiction its good that wiggins got traded. 1. Wiggins played SF and does not have a jumper, they would surely clash. Besides, Wiggins would not get much exposure and chances if they didn't trade him for love. I hope Love will be utilise to the fullest now...

[@ZombieZifiction]

+Jason Saw they might've won last year with wiggins. kevin love is a defensive liability and isn't clutch and also injury prone

[@t4d0W]

+randomcommeentguy 655 the only consolation they get is they are handed keys to the finals for another 3-4 years. The difference is that the Warriors and Spurs aren't going away in those 3-4 years. Unless both of those teams suffered catastrophic injuries to their key stars, the Finals is going to the West in the coming years.

[@sandhanc]

I was waiting for this analysis coach. Thanks a lot!

[@maallard]

This is why LeBron will NEVER get close to Jordan. Jordan was obviously a tough player to coach and he did have an all time great in Phil Jackson but what he did was actually BUY IN to Jackson's philosophies and would ALWAYS give his 100% effort. That's why the Bulls won 72 games. I'd argue that the Warriors have a better TEAM than those Bulls even. Jordan literally gave his whole effort all the time and did not want to lose so badly that he just took over and won them some of those games by giving his best effort on both ends. LeBron is an all time great because of his physical abilities but sometimes I really question his basketball IQ and his effort.

[@brianwong4988]

Only Lebron's fans would bring up this comparison. True nba fans know that Jordan is irreplaceable.

[@isaiahchavez7321]

You know LeBron is statistically the greatest player of all time.

[@maallard]

+Isaiah Chavez Cavs/BucksFan#day1#24-1#LeBronIsGOAT Does 2-4 in the Finals sound like a great stat compared to Jordan's 6-0? Didn't think so. Even if LeBron is one of the best of all time, I'll always argue that he could've been better if he would've just let himself be coached. Right now he's actually seemingly buying into Lue's philosophy so maybe that will lead somewhere. But no matter how good his stats are, I cannot say LeBron will ever be greater than Jordan purely because LeBron has lost way too many Finals series.

[@spencerhughes4876]

Lebron Has An Insane Basketball IQ

[@mrzack888]

Blatt shoulda signed as an assitant coach with Warriors. He'd have a ring now, AND he'd be head coach for the first half of this season.

[@brejackson8095]

Am I The Only One Looking Back At This On All The Comments Saying They Won't Win Against The Spur Or Warriors?? ..... Well They Won!!!

[@vishu339339339]

amazing breakdown again coach! By the way love how you changed the music for this video :)

[@Ma1q444]

Lmao did he just say Kawhi is better than Lebron 😂😂😂😂😂.

[@balleraap007]

Exactly 😂😂😂😂

[@bigjhayooh]

😂😂😂😂

[@CasterShellz]

And I agree with this breakdown 100% A coaching change isn't going to make up for the fact that they don't have the personnel to beat GSW or SAS

[@obinna9118]

Imo this was just a desperation/ asshole move by the cavs but idk what goes on in that locker room so i wouldnt really know

[@xdivisionvision]

Before Blatt got fired he was talking to his friend from Israel and he told him that its either gonna be him or trade Kevin Love. Now we see which one they chose

[@ollijarvinen2877]

The cavs can't win with this team regardless of the coach. They need to trade Kevin Love for someone more defensive minded like Ibaka

[@dancepro67]

+Olli Järvinen The thunder aren't making that trade, they have one of the highest ppg. They need ibaka way more than another scorer like love

[@debeastdueeast]

+KobeBryant "Like Ibaka", not "Definitely Ibaka"

[@logandohardkiller322]

+Olli Järvinen I rly like ibaka as a player but i dont think he would solve cavs problems alone

[@ImSpruic]

No way are we trading ibaka

[@ertuzun21]

+Olli Järvinen They need to learn what coach is and what he supposed to do.Stop finding excuses, everyone knew love was bad defender from his old days.They wanted him anyway

[@SenseiEugene]

LOL that final clip! How proper 😂😂

[@f0rward_00]

Now you need a ty lue video

[@Ma1q444]

The Cavs went on a 11-2 to run after that trailblazers loss why would that be the cause.

[@DemiRonin]

Can't fire your players so you have to fire your coach. This team just doesn't have it, JR is as unprofessional as it gets. You look at the warriors IQ vs the Cav's it's no contest. Blatt might not be the best coach but Cav's need some player personality changes also.

[@Anonymous-cg8bm]

DemiRonin They won it all

[@gnewt75]

I love the aim of coaches like Belicheck, Jackson, Popovich, etc. They among other winning coaches are focused on developing the guys around them to be great. Blossoming them as a person, opens the channels of a being great which allows players to listen effectively and THEN to be coached. Great coaches develop the human beings around them FIRST, then the championships come as a result.

[@gerrychan5729]

this here shows how flawed lebrons character is.

[@kab59592]

Excellent breakdown Coach. You are the standard when it comes to basketball videos on youtube.

[@jonq8714]

LeBron is a whiny brat... in no way is he worthy of any conversation that lumps him in GOAT territory.

[@jonq8714]

***** I can't be bitter because I am not a fan of any team he has ever been a part of.

[@jonq8714]

***** The use of ad homenim doesn't constitute an argument.

[@jonq8714]

***** sure thing mr. crankypants

[@jonq8714]

***** If he was in fact quitting on his coach and dogging it on the court then what I said was completely reasonable and fair. Do you think MJ would ever do that? No way.

[@polymorphistYT]

That's really good content!! As a casual viewer of the warriors@cavs game, I really thought the Cavs gave it their all

[@KvachVasilich]

Lebron basically ruined the team. First coach Blatt, then he wanted his boys to get undeservingly large contracts, then Kyrie left.... Lebron himself is going to leave... I hope Gilbert hires Blatt back after Lebron leaves, and Blatt will get a chance to prove what kind of coach he REALLY is.

[@xaviervega468]

Yeah he ruined the team by getting them a championship. Which happened AFTER Blatt was fired. And Blatt STILL doesn't have a job in the NBA.

[@Ma1q444]

Why does blatt still don’t have a job if he so good?

[@KvachVasilich]

@@Ma1q444 he has multiple sclerosis

[@Nic0Zuma979]

Yes dude back to the 11 minute videos. Keep it up man

[@Hoops-wg7bp]

I hate to hate on LeBron. He's a great baller. I hate that Blatt got fired. He's a good coach. But there's always that one hero who wants all of the power and he loses everything. Lebron may be that hero

[@Hoops-wg7bp]

And those games shown was painful to watch af

[@HungryJ10]

that beat made the video a lot more intense than it should have been haha

[@cmbunit01]

Well I'm sure there's plenty of teams that would love to have Coach Blatt! The Cavs didn't really show up with the "spirit" that David Griffin was spouting about with getting a new coach when my Bulls hammered them last night. Big mistake, but I guess he's better getting away from an apparently toxic organisation and team.

[@jblove53]

check the analytics please. kawhi statistically is better than lebron thos season. thats why he made that statement

[@Ma1q444]

David Blatt an amazing X&O’s coach but isn’t good at rallying the troops, he was a overseas coming into a new society.

[@dbzrulz100]

And he got a chip in the end

[@xaviervega468]

And David Blatt still hasn't done shit in the NBA.

[@DMalltheway]

@@xaviervega468 He did do shit despite not given a chance from the beginning, winning 2 games with a hurt team while Lue took advantage barely winning in 7 with an injured Bogut, Curry and Draymond being suspended.

[@twashtalk]

It's tough to work in any industry under those sorts of conditions. He did well to last that long.

[@smartgaming6842]

I really want to see a LeBron James fan boy try to defend him now. This is the most immature, unprofessional, embarrassing thing you could do to a man. You boycotted a game to get back at someone for a decision they made. Are you joking? LeBron is the reason they won't win a chip. This guy is the definition of human garbage. See the difference from a championship team, and the Cavs? The Spurs love eachother, they respect eachother, they fight with eachother too, but they always figure it out. The same can be said of the Warriors. Miami is on that path too. But as long as the Cavs have LeBron on that roster, they will never develop such chemistry, and comradery.

[@isaiahchavez7321]

Typical LeBron hater. Blames everything on LeBron and talks about him losing instead of him being statistically the greatest player to ever live.

[@smartgaming6842]

Isaiah Chavez Cavs/BucksFan#day1#24-1#LeBronIsGOAT This guy boycotted a game. Nothing is more pathetic.

[@TheSuperRayRay1]

Look who won the NBA finals haha, W

[@evanniemeyer4148]

Funny he ended up with a ring tho. Quit acting like u know what you're talking about.

[@prat19]

I think coach, the truth has to come off, this sort of acts from the players in not just the cavs, in any sports team must be punish... You can disagree with your coach and thats perfectly normal in any situation, but the COACH is the leader of the team, not a player... the reason is because you guide them, is the coach that gives the tools thinking about the TEAM goals, not a player, to succeed in any given situation, the players must execute the coach orders, that doesnt mean that a player can think by themselves or give an opinion or chance the coach mind if he think that it wont work, but you cant go out there to do whatever you want to get your boss kicked out. Professional get paid to go to work, we cant forget that. great video coack

[@DiosDivine]

Blatt never had no NBA experience, he kept using his overseas experience. BESIDES, the reason we lost at the Finals last year was because of his shit ass rotations, he never used the vet's bench at all. I don't blame the Gms.

[@bballbreakdown]

Do u think basketball is different overseas? The ball is still round, the court still rectangular.

[@DiosDivine]

BBALLBREAKDOWN Definitely, they got different rules and different style of playing the ball. I give my utmost respect to overseas because basketball is hard to adjust to if you're playing from overseas to NBA or NBA to overseas.

[@MrThegreatali]

+BBALLBREAKDOWN Being german i can tell you EuroBall is quite different when it comes to rules like travelling (which is called way more often) and wayyy more based on defense (which might be a point not popular with lbj or other vets during the regular season and unattractive among us nba fans/viewers.) Furthermore run and gun (supposedly lbj's preferred playstyle) is not as popular here in europe as it is in the nba. If you combine that euro-coaching-mentality with the kind of impact lbj has on the entire cavs franchise, things were set to fail sooner or later. However, with the record the cavs had, i did not expect things to escalate that soon. Keep up the good content, #imin

[@miguelandrade4036]

we? you play for the Cavaliers?

[@dudeduh9070]

They play with girls ball the court is smaller and the three point line is shorter

[@nicolamontori]

Nice analisys coach, I have to agree with you on every point you made. Keep up the good work ;)

[@bballbreakdown]

+Nicola Montori Thanks! #ImIn

[@DawryMike]

Lebron is the coach and gm regardless of what griffin says.

[@bballbreakdown]

+Myke Alien I think I agree

[@timvvs]

+BBALLBREAKDOWN I find it pretty disrespectful to all the people in the Cleveland org to just assume they take orders from LeBron. Does no one else agree?

[@logandohardkiller322]

+Timothy Chen ask yourself the question where cavs would be without lebron. They depend on him too much

[@DawryMike]

Timothy Chen Well think about what steve van gundy the pistons head coach said. He was confused on why a coach who the year previous took them to the finals and this season has them as a shoe in to win the east was fired. I was confused too until I watched this video. Lebron not guarding his assignments taking up wild shots was him pouting. He wanted david griffin to know that while blatt is here im not gonna play. And griffin obviously buckled under the pressure.

[@dunadan1995]

Vojnarovski said that Lebron wanted Blatt out from the get go. Lately they've actually started to ignoring his directions. This is just disgusting. Hope Blatt gets a job in Timberwolves, he's a good coach. Carlysle already encouraged the guy, and some other high-profile coaches like SVG and Skiles already got behind him. He shouldn't and won't be shunned for his year in the Cavs.

[@Busrider804]

I mean... it worked

[@happytrader-s3n]

wow this was excellent and you created this so fast !

[@asianlim3000]

Lebron is the Akashi of the NBA lol

[@onceflover]

His rule is definitely absolute lol

[@dunmatta2670]

Problem is he only makes the Cleveland front office bow to him.

[@danielkudarsky3760]

Great video Coach! I'm from Israel and when I heard that Coach Blatt of my favorite Israeli basketball team (Maccabi Tel-Aviv) is going to the NBA i was really pumped and excited for him. from what I saw when he coached in Israel I started to really look up to him because he would care so much for his players, always giving them a good word to make them feel good with themselves and feel appreciated and that they are doing a good job. and now that he got fired I feel bad for him, I never saw it coming and more so I don't think he deserves this.

[@bballbreakdown]

+Daniel Kudarsky Thanks for watching. It really is too bad, but sometimes it is what it is - you can't control the situation.

[@danielkudarsky3760]

True that. anyway, great stuff once again keep it up!

[@riseup609]

This video is nothing but ridiculous conspiracy drivel. It should be titled "Picking out sequences of bad plays by Lebron James and hating on him". The entire premise starts with a conspiracy with James as the mastermind and suggests that this was the reason Blatt was fired. That's foolishness if I've ever seen any. What tops it off is when he says that Kawhi has surpassed James as a better player. How anybody could take such a video seriously is baffling to me.

[@riseup609]

As if the Kawhi comment had ANYTHING to do with the firing of Blatt and the whole media circus revolving around this situation for the past 1.5 years. Some of your videos are good but this one couldn't be more unprofessional. You ought to be ashamed.

[@chiggsytube]

+RiseUp Kawhi _is_ a better player this year. Good players don't stay good forever, no matter how much you want them to do so.

[@riseup609]

Chiggsy There's no way he's the better overall player. Maybe in 2 or 3 years but Kawhi doesn't have the impact that Lebron does on a team. No one does except maybe Curry. That is why a lot of people call him still the best player of the world. Swap Kawhi and Lebron and Cleveland wouldn't be as successful as it is and will be. Lebron left a Miami team, who should, based on the players they acquired since, be just as successful as when Lebron was there. But no, they can't even make the playoffs or struggle for a spot.

[@chiggsytube]

RiseUp No. The LeBron that left Miami no longer plays in the NBA. That creature shot 70%+ at the rim, the most dominant forward we have ever seen. It's back gave out in 2009, as it played thousands of post season minutes. It needed no rest, it never missed games, it played lockdown D on any position, it scurried around the floor in Miami's pace and space system like it was Iverson, but it was unstoppable at the rim like nothing else we have seen. Shaq shot around 60% at the rim. In his prime. That thing was solved by Pop's system and Kawhi's defence it's last year in Miami. Solving the problem that thing caused required a new and devastating way of playing basketball, which the Warriors took to the current level. Riley poured all of that creature's might upon the Miami sands in order to save DWade's dubious legs, and it finally receded into the mists of memory. It never is coming back. Even if it did, with all of it's incredible attributes, it could only beat OKC and San Antonio once. It was beaten by Dallas. It was the mathematical limit of the heroball concept. The current LeBron is an excellent player, with a suspect jump shot, but statistically Kawhi is a bit better this year.

[@lutherelmo2624]

Another excellent video. I've learned a great deal about the X's and O's of the game and how it's played from you. Now I'm learning about the politics of professional basketball. smh...

[@CrazyCandyCrush]

LeBitch, LePussy, LeHole!

[@geraltsnake395]

Bitch please shut up

[@DeenoverDunya215]

why you mad because kobe Retiring or your team don't have a chance to win.

[@CrazyCandyCrush]

Geralt Snake You mean LeBitch???

[@wg676]

+Crazy Candy Crush LeBum

[@DeenoverDunya215]

you sideline basketball players need stop hating....y'all must be kobe fan's!!!!

[@MrMathsimon]

About to watch this! Been waiting for an objective explanation debase of subjective claims! Thanks, Coach!