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James flayed for Blatt sacking
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Israelis yesterday harshly criticized the firing of local hero David Blatt as coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, calling him the victim of superstar LeBron James’s influence over the team.
One sports commentator even compared Israelis’ hate of James to their hate of Islamist movement Hamas.
The 2014 hiring of Blatt, an Israeli citizen who led powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv to a European title, gave Israelis a jolt of pride. When the Cavaliers played in last year’s NBA finals, many stayed up late to watch the games. But a rift between Blatt and James, the Cavaliers star player who many rank among the greatest ever, reportedly led to his downfall, with the team announcing Friday that they were firing him despite having one of the league’s best records.
“LeBron James is now the most hated person in Israel,” Sharon Davidovitch, a sports journalist for Israeli news site Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said. “These days I can only compare the Israeli hate for LeBron James to the hate for Hamas,” he said.
Israeli newspapers gave the firing front-page treatment yesterday. One said “Goliath eliminates David,” referring to James and Blatt.
A cartoon on the back cover of Yedioth Ahronoth showed Blatt walking away from the locker room with a box of belongings as James uncorks champagne behind his back.
For The Jerusalem Post, Blatt’s firing meant “the dream came to an abrupt end.”
When the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA finals last season in Blatt’s first year as coach, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to congratulate him.
James denied any involvement and said he was “caught off guard” by the move.
Many Israelis weren’t buying it, revelling instead in the fact that the Cavaliers lost their first game without Blatt to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
There has been talk of whether Blatt will end up with another NBA team. “If there is any way that he can meet LeBron James on the other side and win it, he will probably be the next prime minister of Israel the next day,” said Davidovitch.
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