1. David Michael Blatt is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive.
21 Facts About David Blatt
1. 2.
David Blatt then played professional basketball in Israel for nine of the next twelve years, before an injury ended his playing career, and he began coaching full-time.
3.
David Blatt is one of the most successful Israeli-American coaches in European basketball history.
4.
David Blatt took over as Cleveland's head coach, and led the team to the 2015 NBA Finals in his first season.
5.
David Blatt guided them to the top of their conference the next year, but was fired mid-season, and subsequently returned to coaching in Europe.
6.
David Blatt was born in Louisville and grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts.
7.
In 1991 David Blatt married Kineret, from Netanya, Israel; she had played on an Israeli professional basketball team that he coached.
8.
David Blatt played basketball at Framingham South High School, where he was class president.
9.
David Blatt participated in the Maccabiah Games as part of the USA national team that won a gold medal in the 1981 Maccabiah Games.
10.
David Blatt returned to coach Galil Elyon, and remained assistant manager of the Israeli National Team for the next two years.
11.
David Blatt was still working as assistant coach of the Israeli National Team in 2002, when he won the title of Israeli "Coach of the Year" for the second time, the year he was appointed head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
12.
In 2008, with Ettore Messina announcing that he would leave CSKA Moscow, David Blatt was considered to be the favorite to replace him, but Messina eventually stayed on as CSKA's coach and David Blatt agreed to the offer to become the head coach of Dynamo Moscow instead.
13.
In early 2010, David Blatt served a stint as the head coach of the Greek League club Aris, before moving on to coach Maccabi Tel Aviv .
14.
David Blatt led the Russian national team to a bronze medal during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
15.
In 2014, David Blatt led Maccabi Tel Aviv to one of the greatest comebacks against CSKA Moscow in the EuroLeague semifinal game, proceeding to win the championship after beating Real Madrid in overtime.
16.
On June 20,2014, David Blatt was hired as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
17.
David Blatt was replaced by his lead assistant Tyronn Lue, who guided the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship that season.
18.
On June 1,2016, David Blatt was named the new head coach for Darussafaka of the Turkish Super League and the EuroLeague.
19.
On June 27,2018, David Blatt was officially named the head coach for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague, signing a two-year contract.
20.
On October 6,2019, David Blatt parted ways with Olympiacos after one season, announcing he had been diagnosed with PPMS and was currently in treatment for the degenerative condition, which will affect him the rest of his life.
21.
On December 18,2019, David Blatt announced his retirement from coaching after the New York Knicks hired him as a consultant.