LeBron James 'emasculated' Cavaliers coach David Blatt, says ESPN's senior NBA writer

LeBron James emasculated Cavaliers coach David Blatt during the NBA Finals, reports ESPN’s lead NBA writer Marc Stein.

In what Stein described as “an unflattering look for an all-time great,” James time and again openly disregarded Blatt’s decisions, Stein wrote Thursday.

From Stein’s report:

You’ll recall, of course, that James ignored the play call from Blatt in Game 4 against the Bulls, and openly discussed his decision to do so.

“To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it,” James said. “I just told coach, ‘Give me the ball.’ We’re either going to go to overtime or I’m going to win it for us. It’s that simple.

“I was supposed to take the ball out. I told coach: ‘There’s no way I’m taking the ball out, unless I can shoot it over the backboard and it goes in.’ I told him: ‘Have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball, and everybody get out of the way.”

That plan, of course, worked, and the Cavs won the game and the series on James’ back.

Rumors about Blatt’s job security continued to swirl during the postseason run, despite it being his first season and despite his Cavs making the NBA Finals.

Blatt, as Stein writes, brought some of it on himself with his play-calling and questionable personnel decisions.

“But I repeat:” Stein wrote. “LeBron’s otherworldly performance in this series, on top of everything he’s done for Northeast Ohio just by returning to the area and revitalizing it beyond words, doesn’t make any of this stuff palatable.”