According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers have fired J.B. Bickerstaff of Denver, Colorado. Bickerstaff had spent the last five seasons coaching the Cavaliers and had a record of 170 wins and 159 losses for a winning percentage of .517 in 329 games.
The firing of Bickerstaff is somewhat of a surprise. That is because the Cavaliers had a productive regular season of 48 wins and 34 losses for a winning percentage of .585. Cleveland reached the Eastern Conference semifinals after eliminating the Orlando Magic in seven games in the first round, but then lost rather easily to the Boston Celtics in five games in round two.
Still, one needs to think that Bickerstaff deserved another opportunity to coach the Cavaliers in 2024-25. Cleveland reached the final eight teams in the postseason, but it was obviously not a good enough result for Bickerstaff to keep his job.
There is growing speculation at this time that NBA legend LeBron James of Akron, Ohio may want to end his NBA career in Cleveland. James has had two stints already with the Cavaliers. He spent his first seven seasons in Cleveland from 2003 to 2010, and then another four seasons from 2014 to 2018. In 2016, the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in seven games to win the NBA Finals.
Where Bickerstaff is connected to James, there is a belief that Bickerstaff would not be James’s first choice as head coach, if he decided to return to the Cavaliers. What we saw in Los Angeles this past year was that James was not all that fond of head coach Darvin Ham, which led to his firing. The Cavaliers appear to be in a win now mode, and it will be interesting to see some of the future decisions that they make.
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