David Blatt lasted just one and a half seasons in the NBA, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers reach The Finals in 2015 before he was fired midway through the 15-16 season. The Cavaliers went on to win the 2016 championship under Tyronn Lue.
Blatt found the NBA game and experience different than his experience coaching overseas.
"The NBA game is very different," said Blatt. "The lifestyle is very, very different. And it takes time to get used to that. I don't think that initially I really realized how different it was. I was just thinking—basketball. Then—what I thought WASN'T different about basketball was ALSO pretty different.
"It takes time to learn that and to be comfortable and to become credible. But that's OK. For me, that was a great learning experience. It didn't end the way that I wanted it to. But I've been up enough times in my life to where I can get knocked down and know well enough to get back up. I look back at my NBA experience now, as distance—as there becomes a LITTLE bit of distance, I try to look back at it fondly and positively. And that's a choice too. That's another choice you can make."
Blatt talked about how certain situations were magnified during his team with the Cavaliers.
"Yeah, I don't wanna go into too much of that," said Blatt. "I will say that the media has its job and its information to either create or report on. They have their own set of agendas and motivations and responsibilities. And that's all part of this enormous machine that makes the NBA so interesting and so attractive for people to follow and for owners and companies and media outlets to support. So if you want to enjoy the fruits of all that, then you can and should expect that not everything will necessarily go, as you see fit! You just need to understand that you're a part of that machine."