Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt resigns as coach of Greek team Olympiakos after MS diagnosis
Associated Press | Oct 6, 2019
Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt resigns as coach of Greek team Olympiakos after MS diagnosis
Associated Press | Oct 6, 2019
PIRAEUS, Greece — Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt has left his post as coach of Greek club Olympiakos two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
In a statement on the club website, Blatt said, “after a long and respectful discussion between the owners and myself, our two parties have decided it’s in the best interest of both sides to part ways.”
Blatt announced in August he had been diagnosed with MS, which attacks the central nervous system, a few months earlier.
At the time, he said he was determined to continue working despite “not being as agile or active.”
Olympiakos said Blatt’s departure was a “consensual termination of cooperation.”
The announcement comes two days after Olympiakos lost 82-63 to French team ASVEL in its opening Euroleague game of the season.
Blatt was appointed coach of Cleveland in June 2014 and took the team to the NBA Finals in his first season, losing to the Golden State Warriors.
He was fired partway through the 2015-16 season, in which Cleveland won the NBA championship for the first time under coach Tyronn Lue. He has coached Olympiakos since June 2018.
