The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff following their second-round playoff loss to the Boston Celtics, as announced by the team.
“J.B. is a well-respected NBA coach and an incredible human being,” stated Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman. “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. We owe a ton of gratitude for everything J.B. has contributed to the Cavaliers and his engagement in the Cleveland community.”
The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Joe Vardon, and Jason Lloyd reported that Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and New Orleans Pelicans associate coach James Borrego are potential candidates for the now-vacant head coaching position.
Under Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers secured their first playoff series victory since 2018 by defeating the Orlando Magic in seven games during the first round. This marked Cleveland’s first postseason win without LeBron James since 1993. However, their playoff run ended in the conference semifinals with a five-game loss to the Celtics.
Despite the early playoff exit, the organization remains hopeful about Donovan Mitchell signing a four-year, $208-million extension this offseason, according to Charania on FanDuel TV.
Reports indicate that several Cavaliers players, including Mitchell, lacked confidence in Bickerstaff’s game management, practices, and accountability measures. The franchise reportedly considered firing Bickerstaff around Thanksgiving following a slow start to the season. Additionally, Bickerstaff was reprimanded by Altman in December for playing Mitchell 45 minutes in a win over the Houston Rockets while both Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were unavailable.
Following this incident, the Cavaliers went on to win 22 games between mid-December and the All-Star break but lost momentum towards the end of the season, finishing with a 12-17 record.
Bickerstaff, who took over as interim coach from John Beilein in 2020, amassed a 170-159 record over five seasons with the franchise, including 99 wins over the past two seasons.
