The Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the NBA community with the firing of David Blatt. As the top dogs in the Eastern Conference, the LeBron James team surprised everyone when they decided to part ways with the head coach that brought them to the NBA Finals last season. However, some fans speculate that the Cleveland Cavaliers made the decision to topple a problem beyond the Chicago Bulls or the Atlanta Hawks. That is, Blatt was dismissed due to his inability to formulate a winning strategy against the Golden State Warriors.
Blatt's departure saw the rise of Tyronn Lue as the new head coach. As games passed, it became fairly obvious that issues remain in the Cleveland Cavaliers - concerns that go beyond the coaching staff. This prompted David Griffin to encourage the players to hold a meeting and discuss the issues among themselves. The Cleveland Cavaliers general manager felt it was necessary for the NBA stars to air their grievances without the presence of the coaches and managers.
"It was like ripping off a scab," a source described via ESPN, referring to the players only meeting of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The insider added, "And it was exactly what needed to happen. I think it was what [Griffin] was hoping for."
Another source shared, "It was very healthy for the team. It probably needed to happen weeks ago." Meanwhile, another insider said that the meeting was "the type of conversation that only comes out when it's time for that conversation, if you know what I mean."
According to Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe of ESPN, one of the main topics discussed was "the need for accountability within the team." The sports analysts further noted that "one of the issues that was keeping the team from enjoying some of the successes of the season was the different set of rules for some players compared to others."
"In what could turn out to be a key moment in their tenures together, James, Irving and Love came to an understanding that they needed to police each other on certain matters and use their influence within the team to set a standard for accountability, sources said," shared Lowe and Windhorst. They added, "That was frequently a missing component over the past season and a half, sometimes creating friction."
Following the change in head coach and the meeting among the Cleveland Cavaliers stars, the Kevin Love squad looked to be improving. In fact, the NBA team won their match against the Indiana Pacers after six years of succumbing to the Paul George squad. The Cleveland Cavaliers snagged an 111-106 overtime win.
"It was a great win for us considering we haven't won here in six years, and I just told the guys after the game that we can't resort back to bad habits when things get tough," said Lue via Cleveland.com. The head coach added, "We have to continue to play the same way we've been playing."
