There are probably a list of reasons that could have been used to question why LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he has assured us that the coach wasn’t one of them. Now that the pre-season has officially begun and James has finally started competing with Cleveland again, we are able to see how well he meshes with this roster under rookie NBA coach, David Blatt.
Obviously having a competent head coach would be a point of concern for any player in the long term, but in this case it’s very likely that James truly didn’t see it as a major issue for his return. Still very much at the top of his game with a roster that has been modified to compliment his talents, one could argue that this would have been a dream coaching opportunity for just about anyone looking to lead this team.
Per Dave McNemanin of ESPN.com:
“Him being here, it wasn’t part of my process of coming back,” James said after practice Saturday night. “Obviously, I was excited once I made the decision to get to know him, get to know what he’s about and it’s been good so far.”
James said he first became aware of Blatt’s accomplishments when Blatt coached the Russian national team to a gold medal over Spain in the FIBA EuroBasket 2007, but added that he feels like he can work with any coach regardless of how impressive or pedestrian their past might be.
“I’m coachable,” James said. “I’m very coachable, so it never really mattered to me. I don’t go into it saying I know it all. Every coach and every guy has his own system, has what he believes in. So, I’m a very coachable guy. I believe I can help as well. I have a high basketball IQ, as well, I think. But as far as picking a team or going somewhere because of a coach, it’s never been my thing.”
Along with Blatt and Calipari, the Cavs also interviewed Lionel Hollins, Alvin Gentry, Tyronn Lue, Adrian Griffin, Vinny Del Negro and Mark Price for the position. They ended up also hiring Lue as an associate head coach.
“I’m sure that [being the first European coach to run an NBA team] was a consideration on the part of the management and the ownership,” Blatt said. “I know that back then I was a serious candidate, but probably the out-of-the-box candidate. But fortunately, they saw it fit to want to have me here and I’m hoping that I can justify that.”
The Cavaliers faced off against Blatt’s former team Maccabi Tel-Aviv on in an exhibition match on Sunday. Cleveland won the match up in a convincing 107-80 point win. James scored 12 points as he rested in the second half, allowing Blatt to focus on adjusting the rest of the team.
Despite serving merely as an exhibition, there was a bit of controversy that took place outside of the game. Tom Withers of the Associated Press reported that there were anti-Israeli protestors gathered outside of the Quicken Loans Arena.
Holding signs that read: ”Hold Israel Accountable” and ”Boycott Israel,” the protesters peacefully chanted behind barricades set up across the street from the downtown arena. Cleveland police, including several on mounted horseback, kept a watchful eye as fans made their way into the building Sunday for Cleveland’s first exhibition game.
Fortunately the protests were peaceful and closely monitored. Maccabi has spent the past few years competing against NBA teams during the pre-season notably under former coach Blatt. They are scheduled to play the Brooklyn Nets this upcoming Tuesday.
NBA To Announce New TV Deal On Monday
With the current TV deal set to expire at the end of the 2015-15 season, there has been much talk surrounding how lucrative the next arrangement would be for the NBA deal. Well according to reports, we’ll be finding out much sooner than we thought as the NBA is set to announce that they have reached a new agreement sometime on Monday.
The full details have yet to be disclosed, but information relevant to the deal has already started to leak. According to Rich Sandomir of the New York Times, the deal is expected to be worth up to $24 billion with ESPN and TNT maintaining their rights with the organization.
NBA to announce $24 billion/9 year deal w/ ESPN and TNT on Monday. Annual average value nearly 3x current deal.
— Richard Sandomir (@RichSandomir) October 6, 2014
With this new deal it is expected that the salary cap will be raised significantly in 2016, something that teams and players have been taking note of in recent negotiations. A prime example of this would be LeBron James who signed only a two year deal with Cleveland, presumably to set himself up for an even larger payday when the current TV deal expires in 2016.
Other News Around The League:
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is determined to show that training camp is a chance for players to have fun while preparing for the season. The first year head coach engaged All-Star point guard Stephen Curry in a shooting contest to close out one of their practices. The friendly match-up can be seen courtesy of the Warriors official website.
- Atlanta Hawks player Pero Antic has been listed on the injury report going into the teams first pre-season game on Monday. According to the Associated Press: Atlanta Hawks forward-center Pero Antic will miss Monday night’s preseason opener against New Orleans with a broken nose. The Hawks say Antic suffered the injury during Thursday’s practice in Athens, Georgia, and underwent surgery Friday in Atlanta. The 6-foot-11 Antic averaged 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds as a rookie last season. He started 26 games, taking over at center following Al Horford’s season-ending injury.
In other Hawks news, the mayor of Atlanta is pushing for the team to have a new owner by the end of the year. Per the Associated Press: Mayor Kasim Reed said Friday that he also got assurance from NBA commissioner Adam Silver last week that the league was committed to keeping the Hawks in Atlanta. The team has been under fire since racially charged comments by owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry were revealed. Levenson is selling his majority share of the team, and Ferry has taken an indefinite leave of absence. Reed says he’s spoken with numerous people interested in buying the team and keeping it in Atlanta. He says he expects concrete steps toward the sale of the team to be taken in the coming weeks.
Esau Howard is a regular contributor to Sheridan Hoops. You can follow him on Twitter.
I know we should be keeping the conversation primarily to basketball, but I would caution against categorizing the protestors outside Quicken Loans as “anti-Israeli.” Using the term “anti-Israeli” suggests a bias towards individuals or groups of individuals. The purpose of the protestors, I imagine, was to draw attention to the policies of the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank. The protests are not personal in nature. They relate purely to Israel’s policy decisions.