Cavaliers general manager David Griffin was reportedly in the locker room when Cleveland followed a Christmas loss to the Warriors with a 29-point beat down at the hands of the mediocre Trail Blazers. He was reportedly in the locker room after the Cavs’ second straight win since a 34-point loss to Golden State and noticing a lack of excitement over the victory.
So, Griffin fired David Blatt.
Let’s go to Gregg Popovich, whose Spurs lost by 30 to the Warriors last night.
Popovich, via Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News:“My opening comment here will be,” he said, “I’m just glad my general manager wasn’t in the locker room, because it might have gotten me fired.”
Told of that, R.C. Buford had his own line:
“We’ll see how Wednesday goes.”
This is Popovich’s dry sense of humor at its best.
He’s also truly trying to make a point. It’s typical for NBA coaches to defend each other. See Rick Carlisle and Stan Van Gundy on Blatt.
But I wonder what Popovich would say if Griffin fired Blatt without having first-hand insight into the team dynamic.