LeBron James hit a stunning game-winning buzzer-beater to even up the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls at 2-2.
However, Cavaliers coach David Blatt almost never allowed this moment to happen – twice.
As described by James in the clip above, the initial end-of-game play that Blatt called would’ve had James acting as the trigger man on the inbound instead of the guy taking the final shot.
A curious course of action that James wisely altered.
“Give me the ball and get out of the way,” James said during his post-game media availability, describing how he decided to scratch Blatt’s initial inclination.
James wasn’t the only Cavaliers player puzzled by Blatt’s play-call, as J.R. Smith even chimed in after the game saying he had “doubt” at first before the play was changed.
To make matters worse, even before James’ shot, Blatt actually tried to call timeout even though the Cavaliers had no timeouts left. Thankfully for Cleveland fans, assistant coach Tyronn Lue pulled him back before an official saw what he was trying to do.
To his credit, Blatt owned up to his mistake.
Regardless, for a head coach to almost blow a playoff game and then get openly questioned by his players after they had just won is never a good look.
