Cavs’ Blatt still beloved in Israel

Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel

Even casual Israeli basketball fans begin their day with an update on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the newfound obsession with the NBA franchise has little to do with superstar LeBron James. Rookie head coach David Blatt is one of their own, making his name professionally in Israel and raising a family here.

Nearly all of Cleveland’s games are broadcast live on Israeli sports channels, and the national morning radio broadcast almost always delivers the score of the previous night’s games. Radio shows feature a daily update segment, and local newspapers have begun to resemble Ohio dailies in their blanket coverage of the drama surrounding Blatt’s talented yet underachieving team.

“It’s beyond surreal. It feels almost alien-like,” said Gil Barak, who broadcasts Cleveland’s games for the Sport 5 TV channel. “This is a guy we’re used to seeing around here as his everyday self. Now he’s got LeBron and directing the most high-profile team in the world.”

And as Cleveland fans worry that Blatt isn’t using his roster properly, Israelis are proudly sticking behind him. Boston-born Blatt, 55, remains one of the country’s most beloved figures, thanks to his winning history as a coach in his adopted homeland and national pride in his making it big time.

“It means a lot from two perspectives: Number one, I can do something for the people in Israel, and number two, I can do something about bringing seven million new fans to the Cavaliers,” Blatt said Monday night after a third straight win put the Cavaliers at 22-20. “I’ve been very fortunate, we had a great deal of success in Israel the last several years, so people are positive about this and about me and I’ve got Bron and Kevin and Kyrie and they love the NBA over there so it’s a natural tie-in, and it’s great.”

Israelis went crazy in 2009 when Omri Casspi became the country’s first NBA player, and again when Gal Mekel made fleeting appearances for the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans. But those reactions paled in comparison to the hoopla surrounding Blatt’s sudden ascension to become the first coach to jump from the European leagues to the NBA.