On Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that they had dismissed J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach after five seasons.
According to The Athletic, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and Pelicans assistant James Borrego, who have been head coaches in the NBA, are among the initial targets to replace Bickerstaff.
This season, the Cavaliers, who went 48-34 in the regular season, won a First-Round playoff series and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2018.
The 45-year-old, who originally joined the Cavaliers as the team’s associate head coach before the 2019-20 season, posted a 170-159 regular season record (6-11 postseason), reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons (2023, 2024) and recorded at least 44 wins in each of the last three campaigns.
“J.B. is a well-respected NBA coach and an incredible human-being,” said Cavs president of basketball of operations Koby Altman said in a press release.. “Over the past four years, he helped establish a culture that progressively drove players to become the best versions of themselves. Decisions like these are never easy, particularly when you look back at where this franchise rebuild started under his leadership. The NBA is a unique business that sometimes requires aggressive risk-taking to move a franchise forward and ultimately compete for championships. We owe a ton of gratitude for everything J.B. has contributed to the Cavaliers and his engagement in the Cleveland community. We wish J.B., his wife Nikki, and their three children the best in their future endeavors.”
Bickerstaff signed a multi-year contract extension in December 2021 and helped increase the Cavaliers win total in three straight seasons (from 19-46 in 2019-20; 22-50 in 2020-21; 44-38 in 2021-22 and 51-31 in 2022-23).
During the 2022-23 season, Bickerstaff guided Cleveland to their first 50-win season and postseason berth since 2017-18 at 51-31. In 2021-22, he led the Cavs to a 44-38 mark, doubling their win total from the previous season.
This move could mean many things. It may mean Donovan Mitchell, who is eligible for an extension but could opt out of his contract at the end of next season, wants a new coach. It could mean the franchise doesn’t believe Bickerstaff is the guy to take this team to the next level, or it could mean he lost the locker room.
According to The Athletic, “Several players questioned Bickerstaff’s strategies, game management, training habits, and accountability measures, privately and publicly, throughout the season.” In addition, according to the report, “Multiple league sources have said, for months, that Mitchell did not have great confidence in Bickerstaff, and he was not alone.”
Despite his commendable efforts, Bickerstaff may have fallen victim to this profession’s harsh realities. This is a cruel business.
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