Cavaliers' David Blatt needs LeBron James, and support
PHOENIX — A Cleveland Cavaliers official greeted the attending news media with a list of last names on Monday afternoon, double-checking requests that had been made for the latest lineup of player interviews.
"LeBron. Love. Blatt," he said in order.
For a moment, it almost sounded like the sort of statement that first-year Cavs coach David Blatt could really use right about now.
"LeBron James loves Blatt?!" Then stop the presses on all this non-stop chatter about how Blatt isn't long for this job that has been so brutal to this point.
It was not to be. And thus, the league's most fascinating coaching quandary will continue.
Winning games would change all this and surely spark a love-fest, of course, but the Cavs have lost nine of 11 and dropped seven of eight since James went down with back and knee issues late last month.
He practiced Monday and is a game-time decision to return against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, but Blatt nonetheless finds himself facing a most complicated challenge.
As if the task of maximizing this battered and rotating roster wasn't daunting enough, Blatt — the 55-year-old whose wildly successful career coaching in Europe can help him only so much in this one-of-a-kind environment — is enduring a crash course in the rookie coach experience off the floor as well.
His latest mud-on-the-shoes moment came Sunday, when Blatt was asked by a reporter about the idea that this team could play so poorly despite having two maximum-salary players (Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving) on the floor.
Blatt's misunderstood response — "But Kev's not a max player yet, is he?" — was immediately seen as some sort of affront to the Cavs forward whose controversial current contract (signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves) was at the league's maximum in terms of money but not in length (four years as opposed to five). Sure enough, Blatt spent much of his media session a day later defending himself and trying with little avail to explain what he truly meant.
"I don't pay a lot of attention to social media, but I think my comment was either misunderstood or misconstrued," Blatt said after the team's practice at Grand Canyon University. "I was simply saying that with our team he does not have a max contract because we're not allowed to talk to him about anything until after the season was over (when Love can be a free agent). That's where I was going with that. I think that's very unfortunate the way that turn happened. That's the way of the world sometimes I guess I've got to be clearer in my thoughts."
Welcome to Blatt's world at the moment, a place where his influence and performance are being intensely scrutinized largely because of the uncertain and uncomfortable dynamic among him, his bosses and his players. Even with Cavs general manager David Griffin coming out in support of Blatt recently amid reports that his job was on the line, the presence of a wild-card owner such as Dan Gilbert means no one is about to deem Blatt entirely safe.
James, whose immense influence in Cavaliers matters doesn't need to be explained, has mostly distanced himself from the situation while offering tepid support for Blatt. Of late, James has focused on his recovery efforts that clearly mean everything to this group if they're going to turn things around.
All things considered, Monday was — by some sad relative measure — a good day for Blatt. Love could have easily fed the fire, reacting with indignation to the social media fervor that Blatt's comment caused rather than taking the mature approach that he opted for instead. He spoke with his coach about the situation, withholding judgment until he learned of the context (imagine that) and ultimately deeming this a non-story.
"(The reaction) is just the way of the world, and it didn't bother me," Love said in bottom-line terms.
The overreactions won't be going away anytime soon, especially if the Cavaliers struggles continue and James' leadership and transcendent talent aren't enough to right this wayward ship. Every comment, every non-comment, every laugh, snicker and smirk will be over-analyzed so long as the formidable basketball team that we all thought we'd see doesn't eventually emerge.
And unlike James' last four years in Miami, when there was no shortage of scrutiny but the presence of a Godfather-esque figure in Pat Riley provided the kind of managerial backstop that they simply don't have here, the potential for locker-room cliques and chaos is even greater in Cleveland. Blatt, who signed his three-year, $10 million deal before James agreed to return to Cleveland, will have to earn the kind of love that is in short supply right now.
"It's just hard when you're in a tough period," Blatt said. "That has more to do with the professional side than anything else. Certainly coming to the NBA as a player or coach it does require a particular mindset. There's a learning curve involved regardless of your experience level or skill level. It's a different animal and I'm learning that and will continue to do so."
Even without the magical three words that could change everything about Blatt's lot in Cleveland, he clocked out with a smile on his face Monday. One night after questioning his team's first-half effort against the Kings and making it clear that they simply had to have more fight, James and the rest of his running mates had taken part in a spirited session that gave them all a sliver of hope that there are better times to come here.
"I wish you guys (the media) could've seen our practice," Blatt said. "We're going to get there. There's no question in my mind. We're going to have to ride it out as long as it takes but we will get there."
