Cavaliers fire head coach J.B. Bickerstaff
A week after it was reported that his job security was in “serious jeopardy,” the Cleveland Cavaliers have officially fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report Thursday.
In five seasons with Cleveland, Bickerstaff went 170-159 (.517) with the team, including two playoff berths over the last two seasons. It was eliminated in five games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals last week, missing star guard Donovan Mitchell for the final two games and starting center Jarrett Allen for the final eight, among others.
Bickerstaff’s been on the hot seat for nearly the entire season, so the news doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, even after Cleveland survived the first round in seven games to the Orlando Magic.
Last week’s report from The Athletic suggests there was further disconnect in-house than we–on the outside–may have previously perceived. That’s not uncommon. Here’s an excerpt:
“Multiple league sources have said, for months, that Mitchell did not have great confidence in Bickerstaff, and he was not alone,” the report read. “Several players questioned Bickerstaff’s strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures, privately and publicly, throughout the season.
“Multiple veterans in the Cavs locker room grew frustrated with Bickerstaff for treating the Cavs as a young team with much to learn, instead of as a team ready to contend. They were also less than enthused by the Cavs’ offense last spring and into the first part of this season. Mitchell was among them. Players would leave practices and morning shootarounds wondering aloud: ‘Why did we even do that? What did we accomplish’ — so perplexed by the lack of structure and intensity in the workouts.”
An alleged disconnect between the head coach and its star players is never a good sign, even if Bickerstaff is the fall guy in this situation.
The Cavaliers, in general, have some important decisions to make. Based on what the public knows, at least one of Darius Garland or Mitchell won’t be on the team at the start of 2024-25 … or at least one could assume that’s going to be the case; Jarrett Allen has some “admirers” in other front offices, so he could be an enticing trade chip, and the Cavs are likely going to max out star forward Evan Mobley, who’s eligible for an extension this offseason.
Bickerstaff had an uneven last two seasons with Cleveland–despite making the playoffs–but he does deserve credit for how he handled the last two weeks of the season amid all the injuries to key players. Game planning with that hurdle isn’t always easy to clear, and properly executing it to the extent of winning–especially against the No. 1 seed–is even more difficult.
I wasn’t always a fan of his schemes or rotations, but I don’t think it was just him that should be at fault. Do you think he should’ve been canned? Let us know in the comments!
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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
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