Tuesday evening on an Israeli sports talk radio show hosted by Ofira Asayag on ONE.co.il's 102FM,Miami Heat minority owner Raanan Katz and I appeared as panelists to discuss the Cleveland Cavaliers' firing of head coach David Blatt last week. Blatt's former assistant coach, Alon Stein, was also on the show.
Katz used to be a shareholder of Maccabi Tel Aviv when Blatt coached there years ago, in addition to his role as a minority owner of the Heat. During the radio interview, Katz revealed a bomb of a story—that LeBron James "made it clear" he wanted Erik Spoelstra fired during his tenure with Miami.
Below are Katz's full comments from Tuesday's radio appearance:
On the relationship between Blatt and James:
"I spoke to David Blatt while he was here in Miami when the Heat played the Cleveland Cavaliers. He didn't see it coming, but I could tell the situation wasn't 100 percent working. I thought LeBron James had enough brains to make it work, though.
"David Blatt's main problem was LeBron's attitude. I sat court-side during all the games Cleveland played in Miami, I was a few feet away from the Cavaliers' bench, and I heard everything. There was no dialogue between Blatt and LeBron. Blatt would talk to Timofey Mozgov and the other guys. LeBron takes advantage of being an NBA superstar, and he needs to realize that it won't work. Everyone saw how the Golden State Warriors beat LeBron and the Cavaliers a week ago. He has to understand that to win, the entire team has to be in sync."
On Blatt's performance in Cleveland:
"Blatt did a great job in Cleveland. He did everything he could, but he realized he couldn't tell LeBron James what to do. Perhaps the Cavaliers need a general manager that carries more weight in the organization."
On why James left Miami for Cleveland:
"With the Miami Heat, LeBron James—before and after his four seasons when his contract was up with the team—made it clear that he wanted to dump head coach Erik Spoelstra. At one point, [Heat president] Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization. Riley told James that Spoelstra is his guy and that firing Spoelstra is out of the question. That was the main reason LeBron returned to Cleveland."
On James influencing Miami's front-office decisions:
"LeBron screwed us badly; we weren't prepared for his departure from the Miami Heat. We made the wrong decisions because of LeBron James—he told us to draft a point guard [Shabazz Napier] who didn't meet the expectations, but we chose him because that's what LeBron wanted."
In a follow-up interview, Katz emphasized he did not say James had Blatt fired, just that he's reading between the lines.
"I didn't hear what LeBron and Griffin spoke of, but you can read between the lines," he said.
Katz used to be a shareholder of Maccabi Tel Aviv when Blatt coached there years ago, in addition to his role as a minority owner of the Heat. During the radio interview, Katz revealed a bomb of a story—that LeBron James "made it clear" he wanted Erik Spoelstra fired during his tenure with Miami.
Below are Katz's full comments from Tuesday's radio appearance:
On the relationship between Blatt and James:
"I spoke to David Blatt while he was here in Miami when the Heat played the Cleveland Cavaliers. He didn't see it coming, but I could tell the situation wasn't 100 percent working. I thought LeBron James had enough brains to make it work, though.
"David Blatt's main problem was LeBron's attitude. I sat court-side during all the games Cleveland played in Miami, I was a few feet away from the Cavaliers' bench, and I heard everything. There was no dialogue between Blatt and LeBron. Blatt would talk to Timofey Mozgov and the other guys. LeBron takes advantage of being an NBA superstar, and he needs to realize that it won't work. Everyone saw how the Golden State Warriors beat LeBron and the Cavaliers a week ago. He has to understand that to win, the entire team has to be in sync."
On Blatt's performance in Cleveland:
"Blatt did a great job in Cleveland. He did everything he could, but he realized he couldn't tell LeBron James what to do. Perhaps the Cavaliers need a general manager that carries more weight in the organization."
On why James left Miami for Cleveland:
"With the Miami Heat, LeBron James—before and after his four seasons when his contract was up with the team—made it clear that he wanted to dump head coach Erik Spoelstra. At one point, [Heat president] Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization. Riley told James that Spoelstra is his guy and that firing Spoelstra is out of the question. That was the main reason LeBron returned to Cleveland."
On James influencing Miami's front-office decisions:
"LeBron screwed us badly; we weren't prepared for his departure from the Miami Heat. We made the wrong decisions because of LeBron James—he told us to draft a point guard [Shabazz Napier] who didn't meet the expectations, but we chose him because that's what LeBron wanted."
In a follow-up interview, Katz emphasized he did not say James had Blatt fired, just that he's reading between the lines.
"I didn't hear what LeBron and Griffin spoke of, but you can read between the lines," he said.
