David Blatt was unceremoniously fired last season after management (and possibly LeBron James) felt the Cavs needed a new voice in the locker room. That turned out to work pretty well as Cleveland won its first championship in franchise history by overcoming a 3-1 deficit with Tyronn Lue as the head coach.
Despite the change of coaches, however, Blatt’s fingerprints were still on that championship. In one and a half seasons with the team, the head coach had tremendous success, racking up one Finals appearance to go with his 83-40 record.
So it may not be a surprise then that the Cavs felt Blatt deserved a ring for the championship. And Blatt told international basketball reported David Pick that he would be accepting the offer:
David Blatt confirms to me tonight that he accepted Cavaliers offer of championship ring. pic.twitter.com/5Y50qxWn3x
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) October 4, 2016
This is a nice gesture by the Cavaliers and an uncommon one. But David Blatt really did lay the foundation, as much as the head coach of a team with LeBron on it can. Even though he ultimately wasn’t part of the winning team, he was objectively a big part of the winning formula. It’s a well-deserved honor on his part.
