David Blatt – Former HC, CLE
- Blatt played his college ball at Princeton between 1977 and 1981. So did Knicks GM Steve Mills. There’s the connection between the two. Both played under coaching legend Pete Carrill and have a working relationship.
- Blatt was Israeli League Coach of the Year four times (1996, 2002, 2011, 2014) and was 2014 Euroleague Coach of the Year leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Euroleague Championship. He ran the Princeton Offense overseas. The Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown five games into the 2012-13 season (fastest firing in NBA history) for poor results running the same offense with Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.
- In 2014, Blatt made the jump to the NBA and coached the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals. The injury-riddled team lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Blatt and Warriors coach Steve Kerr were the first rookie head coaches to ever face each other in the NBA Finals.
- Blatt was fired this season with a 30-11 record. It marked the first time in NBA history a coach was fired while his team stood first in its conference. Blatt finished with an 83-40 record in Cleveland.
- Blatt also interviewed for the both Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets head coaching vacancies. The Kings opted to go with ex-Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger. Houston has yet to name its next head coach.
