As small as it seems, that bit of camaradarie with Lebron and Blatt is huge, even if it was awkward, because Lebron initiated it from what I saw.
Four more w's, and all the haters can suck it Blatt. They can to a degree spin it right now with blah blah weak East, but even a competitive series silences them all. Four w's and the hazing is completely over.
You're in select company at that point. 8 coaches have won the last 20 titles, with only Carlisle and Spo not being legends.
Carlisle is incredibly well-regarded and would have choice of most open jobs, and Spo had the complement of all 3 of his stars.
To do it with 1.5 of your big 3 under intense media scrutiny, you have your own huge leverage at that point. And Lebron while loving control, isn't stupid. Far from it. Winning is his first goal, so 4 more W's, and a loaded returning roster sets the stage for Lebron choosing to exert leverage on TT contract and other roster moves, but would get him away from any coaching transition thoughts imo. He picks his battles, if he'd even want one, which I doubt. If it isn't broke, he won't try to fix it.
4 more W's, and the "rookie" gets the last laugh. And Lebron gets the last laugh on Miami and Riley and all their nonsense. Everyone is thrilled, and they'll get the high-fives worked out perfectly by the parade.
Four more w's, and all the haters can suck it Blatt. They can to a degree spin it right now with blah blah weak East, but even a competitive series silences them all. Four w's and the hazing is completely over.
You're in select company at that point. 8 coaches have won the last 20 titles, with only Carlisle and Spo not being legends.
Carlisle is incredibly well-regarded and would have choice of most open jobs, and Spo had the complement of all 3 of his stars.
To do it with 1.5 of your big 3 under intense media scrutiny, you have your own huge leverage at that point. And Lebron while loving control, isn't stupid. Far from it. Winning is his first goal, so 4 more W's, and a loaded returning roster sets the stage for Lebron choosing to exert leverage on TT contract and other roster moves, but would get him away from any coaching transition thoughts imo. He picks his battles, if he'd even want one, which I doubt. If it isn't broke, he won't try to fix it.
4 more W's, and the "rookie" gets the last laugh. And Lebron gets the last laugh on Miami and Riley and all their nonsense. Everyone is thrilled, and they'll get the high-fives worked out perfectly by the parade.