The Cleveland Cavaliers have chosen David Blatt of Maccabi Tel Aviv as their new head coach. They will not be disappointed.
I have known Blatt since 2007, when he led the Russian national team to a victory over Spain in Madrid in the gold medal game. I dined with him in Shanghai in 2008 in the prelude to the Beijing Olympics, and our paths crossed again in Istanbul in 2010 when I was covering the world championship. That was when Blatt made the infamous statement that the Soviet Union has rightfully won the gold medal in the controversial 1972 Olympic finale against the United States.
That opinion did not sit well with the American team, and it will be one of the first brushfires Blatt will need to put out if he takes the Cleveland job.
My favorite response to Blatt’s statement from an American came from coach Mike Krzyzewski, which I recount in this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov.