Coaching History of the Cleveland Cavaliers
Early Years
The Cleveland Cavaliers were founded in 1970 and spent their early years in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team's first head coach was Bill Fitch, who led the Cavaliers to their first playoff appearance in 1976. Fitch was followed by a number of successful coaches, including Mike Fratello, Lenny Wilkens, and John Lucas.
The Mike Brown Era
Mike Brown was hired as head coach of the Cavaliers in 2005. Brown led the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2009, but he was fired in 2010 after a disappointing playoff performance.
Recent Years
After Brown's firing, the Cavaliers hired Byron Scott as head coach. Scott was fired after two seasons, and David Blatt was hired in 2014. Blatt led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2015, where they defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games. Blatt was fired in 2016, and Tyronn Lue was hired as his replacement. Lue led the Cavaliers to another NBA Finals appearance in 2017, where they lost to the Warriors in five games. Lue was fired in 2018, and Larry Drew was hired as interim head coach. Drew was replaced by John Beilein in 2019, who was in turn replaced by J.B. Bickerstaff in 2020.
Current Coach
J.B. Bickerstaff is the current head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bickerstaff was hired in 2020 after serving as interim head coach for the final 11 games of the 2019-20 season. Bickerstaff has a career record of 219-224 as a head coach. He led the Cavaliers to a 22-50 record in the 2020-21 season, but the team improved to 44-38 in the 2021-22 season and made the play-in tournament. The Cavaliers are expected to compete for a playoff berth in the 2022-23 season.
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