Will Blatt remain the Cavs’ coach?
CLEVELAND, OH (The Spread) – Will David Blatt be the coach of the Cleveland Cavs for Game 1 of the 2015-16 NBA season?
Blatt and the Cavs are coming off an excellent season. Despite being hamstrung by the injuries to stars Kevin Love and Kyie Irving, Cleveland gave Golden State a challenge in the 2015 NBA Finals before eventually falling in six games. But following the Finals, ESPN senior writer Marc Stein wrote about the perceived tumultuous relationship between Blatt and superstar LeBron James.
“There was LeBron, in one instance I witnessed from right behind the bench, shaking his head vociferously in protest after one play Blatt drew up in the third quarter of Game 5, amounting to the loudest nonverbal scolding you could imagine,” Stein wrote. “Which forced Blatt, in front of his whole team, to wipe the board clean and draw up something else.”
Stein went on to note that he witnessed firsthand how James called timeouts, decided on substitutions, “barked” at Blatt when it come to decisions that he didn’t agree with, and essentially took his place as the coach. Reports like Stein’s has lead to speculation that Blatt could be replaced as the Cavs’ coach at some point this offseason.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the odds that Blatt will be the coach for the Cavs for the first game of next season are 1/2. The odds that somebody else will be coaching Cleveland for the start of next season are 3/2.
While those aren’t great odds that Blatt will remain the Cavs’ coach, at least they favor him staying put.
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