LeBron says he was surprised by Cavs coaching change

However, reports said despite the success, Blatt had lost support within the locker room and there was a sense that he was not the coach who could guide the Cavaliers to the championship, the main goal of superstar LeBron James when he rejoined his home-region club in 2014. The Cavs caved on Friday, firing Blatt despite his team’s 30-11 record and first-place standing in the Eastern Conference.

James says he agrees with general manager David Griffin’s assessment that the Cavs aren’t as connected as they need to be to chase a championship. That’s what I know, so I was comfortable in that role.

James also noted it’s clearer now what he means when he’s said at times that he’s not always happy after wins. Griffin is a hands-on GM, making almost every road trip with the team, so he said he felt like he had the players’ pulse, even without a final conversation with the captain, James. “We got exhausted. I just don’t think we’re in good enough shape right now to play in the style that we want to play”.

“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers”, Blatt said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have won three of their last four and will be aiming for a third straight win after beating the Clippers by 115-102 on Thursday.

LeBron James finally has HIS guy coaching his Cleveland Cavaliers team. “I stopped doing that a long time ago in my career”.

James has had a solid relationship with Lue and often talks strategy moves with him during games. “I’m really proud of my guys, the way we competed tonight and came out an played hard”, Gasol said on ABC. Steve Kerr has the argument of being the coach that put Golden State together, but Tyronn Lue #Cmon.

“I would also like to express my extreme gratitude to my coaching staff”, he said. “There’s a lack of connectedness and spirit that I just couldn’t accept”.

“Me and Bron were friends before when I played. If Steve Kerr loses two games in a row, we might have to dump him and go back to Luke Walton – that’s where we’re at”, Van Gundy said.

“When you’re dealing with star players, when you run a lot of plays for certain guys, they might want the ball on this side or, ‘No, I saw this on the floor”.

“The only thing more absurd than what just happened would be (Golden State’s) Steve Kerr or (San Antonio’s Gregg) Popovich getting fired”, Van Gundy said.

Blatt’s second season was going better than his first year, when he struggled to adapt to the National Basketball Association game after being a successful coach in Europe. The Cavs were without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving for most of the NBA Finals and he had to account for the absence of Irving for most of this season.