You may see Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt calling plays from the sideline, but apparently appearances can be deceiving. According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Blatt is just repeating whatever superstar LeBron James calls on the court.
Windhorst appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast and dropped a gem: Blatt may look like he's calling plays on the sideline, but he actually is not.
"What typically happens - and this has been happening for like three months now - is LeBron will take the ball, and LeBron will call the play. David Blatt will see what play LeBron calls, and he will repeat it to the team," Windhorst said on the podcast, according to SBNation. "That happens on a regular basis."
Assuming Windhorst's report is true, there're two ways to read into it: Blatt is relaying what James calls because that's the mutually-agreed upon arrangement, or Blatt is coaching a team that doesn't listen to him and he's trying to save face.
It wouldn't be entirely surprising if the truth were closer to the second one. Windhorst reported in January the team had stopped listening to Blatt, with one opposing evaluator saying the Cavs appear to "run different plays than the bench calls." James said that same month he often called plays on the court, something which he admitted he hadn't asked permission to do.
Blatt's first season as an NBA head coach has been heavily scrutinized, especially in the early part of the season when Cleveland was underperforming. Although the Cavaliers have since turned things around and are now second in the East, it remains unclear just how much control - and say - Blatt has over his players. Has he willingly ceded play-calling responsibilities to James or has his voice simply been drowned out by James?
The playoffs will be telling. In crunch time with the season on the line, do the players listen to a coach with no postseason experience or to a man with two championship rings and four MVPs?
