The Cleveland Cavaliers, on Thursday, fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff following their elimination in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoff.
The 45-year-old, who became the head coach of the Cavaliers in June 2020, departs after five years in charge despite leading the 2016 NBA Champions to their first East semifinals berth in six years.
He replaced John Beilein, who resigned from the Cavs in 2020, and led them to a 170-159 (.517) record, including guiding the team to 99 regular-season wins in the past two seasons.
ESPN Sources: The Cleveland Cavaliers dismissed coach JB Bickerstaff on Thursday. Bickerstaff led Cavs to conference semifinals and won 99 regular-season games in past two years, but change comes with hope of advancing deeper. pic.twitter.com/fxl7FJPdQ9
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 23, 2024
The Cavaliers ended this season with the fourth-best record in the East, having finished with a 48-34 win-loss record. They came up against the Orlando Magic in the first round, whom they dispatched 4-3 after a back-and-forth seven-game series.
However, their postseason run was cut short by the Boston Celtics, who ended the regular season with the league’s best record. The Cavs were beaten 4-1 in a gentlemanly sweep in the East semifinals without their dynamic duo of Jarrett Allena and Donvan Mitchell, who both missed the last two games of the series.
According to reports, Cleveland is in search of a new coach who can lead them to a deep postseason run, and president of basketball operations Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey will both resume the hunt for such a coach.
