Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love said it was "super powerful" for John Beilein to deliver a speech to the team after he resigned as head coach Wednesday. 

"I've never had a coach who stepped down or was fired and came in and talked to us," Love told reporters. "But just seeing him being vulnerable and treating us with respect and empathy, I thought it was super powerful."

Beilein released a statement about his decision to resign in coordination with the Cavs announcing he'll be "reassigned to a different role within the organization:"

"This was a very difficult decision for me, but I want to be clear—this was my decision to step down, and I truly appreciate the understanding and support of the front office during this time. I find losing very challenging, and this year has taken a much bigger toll on me than I expected. I grew concerned for the consequences this toll could potentially take on my own health and my family's well-being down the road. I was not certain I could be at my best for the remainder of the season and in the future. That would not be fair to the players, coaches and support staff."

Beilein arrived in Cleveland from the University of Michigan with 753 wins over 37 seasons at the collegiate level, which ranked 20th among Division I coaches. Love agreed the losing environment within the rebuilding Cavs, who own the league's second-worst record at 14-40, represented a hurdle.

"It's really, really hard to lose in this league," Love said. "I respect the hell out of him. Obviously I wish him the best."

There were also off-court problems that generated controversy within the Cavaliers locker room.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Beilein "struggled to connect with NBA players," who felt he was treating them like college athletes rather than professionals. He was also forced to apologize to the team in January for using the phrase "no longer playing as a bunch of thugs," saying he meant to use "slugs."

Although Beilein, who was replaced by longtime NBA assistant J.B. Bickerstaff, wasn't a perfect fit for the Cavs, Love explained the team's players need to accept their fair share of the blame for the struggles.

"We gotta do a little check on ourselves too," he said. "We gotta look at ourselves in the mirror too. I was talking about passing that mirror test. Definitely myself—I've been a s--thead at some points this season. I let losing get the best of me and nobody likes to do that...it's really just looking at ourselves and finding out how we can get better. And from there, trying to put it all together."

The Cavaliers return from the All-Star break to play their first game under Bickerstaff on Friday night when they travel to face the Washington Wizards.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Andre Drummond denied a report that he has a negative opinion of the atmosphere surrounding the Cavs currently.

Shams Charania, Jason Lloyd and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that Drummond told his teammates that the situation in Cleveland is worse than the one he left with the Detroit Pistons. Drummond was traded from Detroit to Cleveland for John Henson, Brandon Knight and a 2023 second-round pick two weeks ago.

Charania, Lloyd and Vardon also reported Drummond said that his feelings regarding the Cavs will play a role in whether he exercises his $29 million player option for next season. However, Drummond denied the report on Twitter:

That’s a lie... lol but anything for a headline huh? Never said anything of that sort

— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) February 19, 2020

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavaliers have negotiated a settlement with head coach John Beilein, which will end his tenure after less than one season. J.B. Bickerstaff will take over as the new head coach.

Detroit essentially gave up Drummond for pennies on the dollar due to his contract situation. The Pistons were unwilling or unable to sign him to a long-term extension, and he could have potentially left for free agency after the season.

Cleveland may be in the same position, but it gave up so little to get Drummond that it may have been worth the risk regardless.

At 14-40, the Cavs are the worst team in the Eastern Conference, and they are 3.5 games behind a Pistons team that traded Drummond and is without injured forward Blake Griffin as well.

The Cavs lured Beilein away from the University of Michigan during the offseason in hopes that he could help turn the franchise around, but he didn't even make it through one year of the five-year deal he signed.

Cleveland reached four straight NBA Finals from 2014-15 through 2017-18 and won a championship in 2016, but following the departures of Kyrie Irving and then LeBron James, the Cavs have been one of the NBA's worst teams.

Despite leading the Cavaliers to their first championship, head coach Tyronn Lue was fired after an 0-6 start last season. Larry Drew went 19-57 in his place and the Cavs finished 19-63 on the year. With the departure of Beilein, the Cavs are now on their fourth different head coach in the past two seasons.

Drummond is a two-time All-Star who is on pace for his fourth career rebounding title. Statistically, this has been the best season of his career with averages of 17.7 points, 15.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.7 blocks per game.

With Drummond, the young guard duo of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, and five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love, the Cavs have some pieces in place that could make them competitive in the Eastern Conference under the right leadership.

Given how many coaching changes the Cavs have been through over the past two years, however, selling Drummond on stability and a chance to contend for a playoff spot next season will be difficult.

As head coach John Beilein's Cleveland Cavaliers tenure ends, more details about what went wrong in the nine months after the team hired him have emerged.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Beilein is expected to formally say goodbye to the team and coaching staff Wednesday after he negotiated a contract settlement with the Cavs.

Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, Jason Lloyd and Joe Vardon, one source described Beilein as being a "dictator" whose style wasn't suited for the NBA. 

One problem cited was Beilein's "tone toward the players" when he was "allegedly overly harping his voice in film sessions, nitpicking fundamentals and showing an inability to adapt to the NBA's offensive and defensive structures."

The report noted the final straw for Cavs players occurred during their Jan. 8 film session that included his "thugs" comment: "He insisted later he meant to say slugs, and he tried to apologize the next day, but a number of the players never really embraced his explanation. In fact, some of them thought it was an insult to their intelligence, one player told The Athletic."

After Beilein's remark, one Cavs source told Charania, Vardon and Lloyd the team tried "to make light of a very tough situation" by putting on songs that had the word "thug" whenever he was close enough to hear it. 

Andre Drummond, who was acquired from the Detroit Pistons in a Feb. 6 trade, was already telling "teammates the situation in Cleveland was worse than Detroit."

Despite all of the turmoil in Cleveland under Beilein, players were "surprised" that he left the team with three more guaranteed years on his contract worth between $4 million and $4.5 million per season.

The report noted Beilein is believed to have recently told one Cavaliers player, "money isn't an issue; happiness comes first." 

Beilein, who joined Cleveland in May, became "miserable in his new job" and was "questioning his decision" to leave Michigan by the time of the team's final two preseason games against the Boston Celtics, which the Cavs lost by a combined 69 points. 

Before going Cleveland, Beilein had a successful 12-year stint at the University of Michigan. The 67-year-old turned the program around with nine NCAA tournament appearances, including two trips to the national title game in 2012-13 and 2017-18. 

Beilein had never coached in the NBA as an assistant or head coach before getting the job in Cleveland. He went 571-325 in 27 seasons with four different programs. 

Per Wojnarowski, J.B. Bickerstaff, an associate head coach on Beilein's staff, will take over as Cleveland's head coach for the remainder of this season.

The Cavaliers entered the All-Star break with a 14-40 record, second-worst in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors (12-43).

John Beilein's first season as an NBA head coach did not go according to plan.

Beilein stepped down as the Cleveland Cavaliers' head coach on Wednesday but will remain with the franchise in an unspecified role. The Cavs will promote associate head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to replace Beilein.

Here is Beilein’s statement. pic.twitter.com/DXonkCNlbo

— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) February 19, 2020

Cleveland sits last in the Eastern Conference at 14-40.

The writing seemed to be on the wall for the former University of Michigan coach when Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported he and the Cavaliers were "in advanced talks about parting ways by Wednesday."

What's more, Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported for ESPN the coach discussed stepping down during the All-Star break with the team.

The Cavaliers have struggled throughout the season and never looked the part of contenders under Beilein's leadership.

Beilein also made headlines in January when Wojnarowski reported he said his players were no longer playing "like a bunch of thugs" during a film session.

While Beilein later said he understood the racial connotations the word carries and reached out to players on an individual level to explain he meant to say "slugs," Wojnarowski reported "players left the room initially stunned and were increasingly disturbed" after a "hush fell over the room" in the immediate aftermath of the comment.

"I didn't realize that I had said the word 'thugs,' but my staff told me later I did, and so I must have said it," Beilein said. "I meant to say slugs, as in slow-moving. We weren't playing hard before, and now we were playing harder. I meant it as a compliment. That's what I was trying to say. I've already talked to eight of my players tonight, and they are telling me that they understand."

The coach's use of the word "thugs" was not the only issue in Cleveland this season.

Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported "Kevin Love had an emotional verbal outburst directed toward general manager Koby Altman" regarding the direction of the franchise.

Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report also cited sources around the team who said Love was becoming increasingly frustrated. That was clear during a January loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder when he slowly walked toward a dribbling Collin Sexton and threw his arms up in disgust over not receiving a pass earlier.

Kevin Love appeared to be visibly frustrated with Collin Sexton. pic.twitter.com/NKA02hBOt4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 5, 2020

While Love eventually apologized for his actions, per James Rapien of 92.3 The Fan, his frustration helped define Beilein's first and only season with the team. After all, Love was the most notable connection between the current outfit and the 2015-16 champions and figured to be Cleveland's best player.

Despite the failures in Cleveland, Beilein largely found success during his collegiate career prior to his move to the NBA.

He made stops at Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan, finished with a 571-325 record and made the NCAA men's tournament 13 times. He is best known for his time with the Wolverines, where he advanced to the national championship game twice in addition to winning two Big Ten regular-season titles and two conference tournaments.

Those winning ways did not translate to the Cavaliers.

While they were not expected to be contenders right away, especially with LeBron James now on the Los Angeles Lakers, they did give Beilein some veteran pieces in Love and Tristan Thompson to go with young potential building blocks in Sexton and Darius Garland.

Instead of establishing a quality foundation for years to come, the coach's season generated plenty of negative headlines, particularly those concerning the contentious situations in which he and his players found themselves.

John Beilein's tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly come to an end before the team returns from the All-Star break. 

Per The Athletic's Shams Charania and Jason Lloyd, Beilein and the Cavs are "in advanced talks" about parting ways, and they are expected to come to a resolution by Wednesday. 

Charania and Lloyd noted the expectation is Beilein will leave the remainder of his original four-year deal worth between $4-4.5 million annually. 

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Beilein and the Cavaliers are discussing terms of a contract settlement, and J.B. Bickerstaff is expected to take over as head coach when the situation is resolved. 

Beilein was a surprise hire by Cleveland in May. The 67-year-old had spent the previous 12 seasons as head men's basketball coach at the University of Michigan, racking up a 278-150 record with two national title game appearances in nine trips to the NCAA tournament. 

Things haven't gone well for Beilein or the Cavs under his watch. They entered the All-Star break with a 14-40 record, worst in the Eastern Conference.

There have been multiple reported issues behind the scenes. Joe Vardon and Charania reported in December that a number of Cavs players had already "drowned out [Beilein's] voice" because of frustration with his coaching style. 

"Our assistants are definitely more prepared for the NBA," one Cleveland player told Vardon and Charania. 

Last month, Beilein issued an apology to Cavs players for saying during a film session that they were playing "like a bunch of thugs." He said he had meant to use the word "slugs." 

Bickerstaff is in his first season as an associate head coach for the Cavs. He previously coached the Houston Rockets (2015-16) and Memphis Grizzlies (2017-19), going 85-131 in 216 games between the two teams.

Cleveland will play its first game after the All-Star break Friday at Capital One Arena against the Washington Wizards. 

Sunday night's All-Star Game was interrupted by news from the NBA basement.   

The 14-40 Cleveland Cavaliers and first-year head coach John Beilein "have discussed the possibility" of having the former Michigan coach step down during the All-Star break, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst. 

Woj added that a final decision has not yet been reached.

The Athletic's Shams Charania, Kelsey Russo and Jason Lloyd dispatched a separate report at the same time disclosing that Beilein "is not expected to remain" Cleveland's head coach beyond this season. 

"The terms of the separation, and the exact timing of it, are not yet known, but momentum is building toward his exit," they noted.

Woj provided more context from Beilein's perspective:

Sources: Beilein left for the All-Star break weighing his future as coach -- including the possibility that he's coached his final game, league sources tell ESPN. He has yet to make convey a decision, but there's been conversation w/ management about the option of a prompt exit. https://t.co/L5LVVyLiu4

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 17, 2020

Beilein was hired by the Cavs on a five-year contract last May.

Beilein was at the center of controversy in early January when word got out that he had told Cavaliers players they weren't playing "like a bunch of thugs" during a film session. However, Wojnarowski reported that Beilein "reached out to players individually to insist he instead meant to use the word 'slugs.'"

Per The Athletic, his son Patrick Beilein resigning from his position as head coach at Niagra in October "under tumultuous circumstances" has affected Beilein's ability to coach in Cleveland. 

This is Beilein's first head-coaching job in the NBA. Previously, the 67-year-old had coached in collegiate basketball from 1992 to 2019. He is best known for his 278-150 record across 12 seasons at Michigan. 

 

Eight months after suffering a stroke, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is working his way back to his old life.

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN), the 58-year-old has worked in his Detroit office one or two days a week since returning early in 2020, while he's set to give a public speech for the first time Friday.

Still, it's been a difficult road back for Gilbert since his May 25 stroke.

"When you have a stroke, here's the problem with it: Everything is hard. Everything," Gilbert told Chad Livengood of Crain's Detroit Business. "Like you wake up, getting out of bed is hard, going to the bathroom is hard, sitting down eating at a table is hard. You name it. You don't get a break. You're like trapped in your own body."

He's been using a wheelchair and has a service dog, while also working with therapists in his home.

"The (left) leg is almost there," he explained. "I can walk with a cane and all that. It just takes a little longer in the arm."

Gilbert is the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans but is well-known for his work in sports as owner of the Cavaliers, as well as the Canton Charge of the NBA G League and the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League.

Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love will miss Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks at Quicken Loans Arena because of an Achilles injury.

Chris Fedor of cleveland.com reported the news.

Durability has been an issue for Love in recent years. He hasn't made 70-plus appearances since 2015-16, with his back the usual culprit.

The five-time All-Star was limited to 22 games last season as the Cavs navigated another post-LeBron James future. With little to play for, the team took every precaution as Love battled a toe injury.

As the rebuild lumbers along, Cleveland remains proactive regarding Love's health⁠—having routinely rested him for the second half of back-to-backs. 

Love continues to deliver solid production when healthy. He's averaging 17.7 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.

Of course, those numbers aren't changing much for the Cavs, who have the second-worst record in the NBA at 13-40 and are all but guaranteed another season in the lottery as they lay the foundation for the years ahead.

Given how many games Love has missed since joining the team in 2014, Cleveland is in familiar territory. His absence will force Larry Nance Jr. to take over as the starting power forward.   

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton will replace injured Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro on the U.S. roster for the 2020 NBA Rising Stars Game on Friday as part of All-Star Weekend. 

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic provided the update Tuesday.

Sexton has made strides in his second NBA season while sharing the backcourt with rookie Darius Garland, who's helped shared the point guard responsibilities.

The 21-year-old University of Alabama product has averaged 19.7 points, a three-point improvement from his debut campaign, along with 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 53 appearances.

He expressed his surprise earlier this month when he wasn't listed on the initial Rising Stars rosters.

"I knew I deserved to be there. I knew the hard work every day, coming here and playing the game," Sexton told reporters. "I knew I deserved to be out there, but I took the good with it. Hey, just continue to build. Can't be too mad because it is what it is. Second year in a row so just have to take it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqN66B4Y5bo

Meanwhile, Herro has served as a sparkplug off the bench for the Heat throughout his rookie season.

He's putting up 13.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 threes and 2.0 assists while shooting 39.3 percent from beyond the arc through 46 games (six starts).

The 20-year-old Wisconsin native has missed the last four contests with an ankle injury, though. He posted an emoji on Twitter after his removal from the All-Star Weekend event was announced:

😐

— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) February 11, 2020

This year's Rising Stars Game, featuring the NBA's top first- and second-year players, is scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET tip Friday at the United Center in Chicago. It will be nationally broadcast on TNT.

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced Saturday that guard Alfonzo McKinnie has been signed to a multi-year contract. 

Kelsey Russo of The Athletic reported Friday that the deal was a four-year, $7.2 million agreement. 

It seems a low-risk deal for the Cavs. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported it "includes a little more than $600,000 guaranteed for the remainder of this season," with the final three years of the deal non-guaranteed. The $1.6 million average the deal pays yearly is also the league minimum.

McKinnie, 27, has appeared in 35 games for the Cavaliers this season (one start), averaging 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three. 

Cleveland is McKinnie's third team in as many seasons. He appeared in 14 games for the Toronto Raptors in the 2017-18 campaign and 72 games for the Golden State Warriors last season. He was claimed off waivers by Cleveland in October, was waived in January and signed two 10-day contracts with the team before getting his four-year deal. 

It isn't the biggest roster move of the week for the Cavaliers, who acquired two-time All-Star center Andre Drummond before the trade deadline in exchange for John Henson, Brandon Knight and a 2023 second-round pick.