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‘End that speculation’: Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff WILL RETURN, says Cleveland GM after first-round defeat to the New York Knicks
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s job is secure with the franchise’s backing, despite a swift first-round exit from the NBA playoffs.
Making their first postseason appearance since LeBron James left five years ago, the Cavs were bounced in five games by the New York Knicks, who overpowered Cleveland to easily win the series.
Bickerstaff was criticized for strategy, along with his team seeming overwhelmed and pushed around by the Knicks. Cleveland’s early elimination, plus the team’s history of rash moves, triggered conjecture about a coaching switch.
However, after giving a somewhat tepid endorsement of Bickerstaff during an end-of-season news conference on Friday, president of basketball operations Koby Altman made it clear the Cavs are moving forward with their coach.
‘End that speculation,’ Altman said in a text message to AP. ‘He’s our head coach and we have a lot of support and respect for the job he’s done.’
Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff is staying on despite a first-round exit to the Knicks
Koby Altman, GM of the Cavs, is happy with Bickerstaff’s work: ‘He’s done a phenomenal job’
The Cavs won 51 games during the regular season and were the league’s top-rated defensive team before getting bullied by the Knicks, who advanced to the second round for the first time since 2013.
Altman said Bickerstaff has been instrumental in Cleveland’s turnaround.
‘J.B. has been through this rebuild from the ground up and he’s done a phenomenal job instilling a culture here of accountability and hard work,’ Altman said. ‘You can’t fluke your way into 51 wins and you can’t fluke your way into the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA. That’s coaching.
‘I know we have great defensive personnel, but you have to have buy-in from that and that comes from the head coach. We’re extremely happy with J.B. and the job he’s done. I think he’s going to look back and reflect on what we could have done better, just like the players look back at what they could have done better.’
Bickerstaff is 122-125 with the Cavs. He was an assistant in 2019 before taking over when John Beilein stepped down at the All-Star break. Cleveland won 22 games in Bickerstaff’s first season, 44 games and qualified for the play-in tournament the next, and made a bigger jump this year as the No. 4 playoff seed.
While the Cavs are disappointed in their postseason performance, Altman said there won’t be any ‘sweeping changes’ to the roster this offseason. He’s confident Bickerstaff will grow from the experience.
‘He’s hard on himself,’ Altman said. ‘I think he’s going to go back and watch a lot of this stuff, but I also know that the players love playing for him. He’s created an amazing atmosphere here and there’s excitement.’
J.B. Bickerstaff is the son of Bernie Bickerstaff, 79, who’s coached in the NBA for 46 years
J.B. is the son of former NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who is also working for the Cavs in their front office serving as senior basketball advisor. Bernie was head coach of the Seattle Sonics from 1985-90, reaching the Western Conference Finals in only his second season ever as the coaching leader of an NBA team.
Bernie never reached that stage of the postseason again afterwards. He was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets from 1994-96 after being fired by Seattle, where he only failed to lead the team to the playoffs in his final season in charge out five seasons there.
In Denver, it was a different story for the veteran coach, who only made it to the postseason once with the team – a first-round exit – in his first full season in charge, out of his three years there.
Bernie led another team to the playoffs one last time in 1996-97, the Washington Bullets. He was fired a year later before trying to qualify for the postseason with the the Charlotte Bobcats.
Bernie enjoyed a stint as the L.A. Lakers’ interim head coach during the 2012-13 season after initially joining the team as an assistant under Mike Brown.
The 79-year-old never coach again afterwards.
