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SAD NEWS: It’s astonishing that the Boston Celtics dismissed him.
After more than four seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers dismissed coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Thursday, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Assistant coaches Kenny Atkinson of the Golden State Warriors and James Borrego of the New Orleans Pelicans have already surfaced as potential candidates, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
In the upcoming days, General Manager Mike Gansey and Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman will begin compiling a list. However, there is one player to keep an eye on: Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson. He led the Nets’ Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to the postseason. A href of “https://t.co/9GMvmp49BJ” to aThis URL: https://t.co/9GMvmp49BJ
After John Beilein departed in the latter part of the 2019–20 season, Bickerstaff joined Cleveland and went 170-159. Before turning forty-five, the 45-year-old managed a rebuild that started with a 22-50 record in 2020–21 three consecutive winning seasons, turning things around.
Despite having a roster beset by ailments, Cleveland finished 48–34 this season and made it to the second round of the playoffs before falling to the Boston Celtics. It was the first time since 1993 that the Cavaliers team had progressed past the first round without LeBron James.
Nevertheless, Charania stated that following Cleveland’s defeat by Boston, Bickstaff’s employment was in danger. As the 2023–24 season went on, players on the team, most notably star Donovan Mitchell, became enraged at Bickerstaff’s coaching choices. Bickerstaff was reportedly chastised by Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman for giving Mitchell excessive playing time during the regular season.
In addition, Bickerstaff appeared to allude to plans within his locker room when complimenting the Celtics.
“Observe how they play the game” and how selflessly the game is played. They have a lineup full of extremely great players, yet each one of them knows exactly what their duty is and does it to help the team win.
“You sit back and watch the film and study them, you don’t see guys stepping outside of who they are in a way that it’s going to impact other people,” Bickerstaff stated. “When Derrick White gets fired, they don’t mind. They let him do his thing if he’s going off. If you give him the ball and set him up for success, the other guys will also develop into incredible players. I believe that when you see them, it doesn’t seem like it’s all about “me” at all all, correct? It’s all about taking the win. The key is to always come out on top.”
