Brendan Haywood spent what was likely his final NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, and based on his assessment of the locker-room dynamics, the 13-year center wasn’t surprised the team fired head coach David Blatt on Friday.
Haywood elaborated on Blatt’s dysfunctional relationship with LeBron James in an interview with SiriusXM’s NBA Today (h/t Steve Aschburner of NBA.com):
Coach Blatt was very hesitant to challenge LeBron James. It was one of those situations where, being a rookie coach, and LeBron being bigger than life, it was a little too much for him.