LAS VEGAS – In his first Summer League, it seems like the weight of the world has been lifted off Anthony Bennett’s shoulders. In the city he once called home and the arena he once shined so brightly that the Cleveland Cavaliers made him the unexpected top pick of the 2013 NBA draft, Bennett is playing loose, having fun and suddenly showing the athleticism and versatility that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place. After scoring 15 points and
The search for a new head coach is over for the Cleveland Cavaliers after hiring David Blatt from overseas on Friday on a 3-year deal worth $3.33 million annually. [Read more…]
New Cavs head coach David Blatt has amassed his fair share of European hardware. The NBA has plenty of Euroleague athletes among its teams’ rosters. Now, it has its first head coach. Last year, as the Boston Celtics began searching for a replacement for Doc Rivers, who was essentially traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Blatt was mentioned by some reputable basketball writers—including our very own Chris Sheridan—as a possible candidate. However, the job went to Butler coach Brad
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
Lots of NBA news today, so let’s get right to the latest: FINALS WON’T DETERMINE LEBRON’S FUTURE Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com The Heat’s success or failure in these Finals will not affect LeBron James’ decision on whether to opt out of his contract by the end of this month, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. James and the Heat would be the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit and come back and win a title.
All anyone wants to talk about in the NBA today is LeBron and the air conditioning in San Antonio. Speculate, theorize, whatever you want about whether how suspicious the timing of the malfunction was and what might have happened had LeBron played at the end of the game, but no matter what, mocking an injury, even one as temporary (and thus perceived to be non-serious) as cramps, is not what’s known as “taking the high road.” There’s no reason Spurs
Nobody in America is going to bat quite as hard for David Blatt as myself and my staff. An open letter to Phil Jackson was part of our push, and in this interview on 1280TheZone in Salt Lake City the subject came up again. Now, I do not know if the Jazz have interviewed or plan to interview Blatt. But I would bet the mortgage that Kevin O’Connor and Dennis Lindsay of the Jazz front office know who he is, and as
Dear Coach Jackson, I’m sure you have been very busy in your new role as President of the New York Knicks and have been entrenched in recent days with the Chicago pre-draft combine, the excitement of this year’s NBA playoffs and the delicate process of selecting a new head coach. The task of choosing the right head coach for the Knicks is far from simple. New York, in any sport, is an environment in which any coach or decision maker is under