Steve Kerr and David Blatt are officially ineligible to coach the NBA All-Star Game.
The NBA All-Star Game is almost upon us and the two coaches who were supposed to appear behind the bench are now ineligible – one is obviously for a much different reason than the other, but more on that in a moment.
Steve Kerr’s return means that he absorbs Luke Walton’s 39-4 record, but he is still not eligible for the All-Star Game, according to the NBA’s official website. As such, Gregg Popovich is in line to coach the Western All-Stars considering his team is in second place and will presumably be in the same position by the January 31st cutoff date.
Cleveland, meanwhile, just delivered shockwaves across the NBA by firing David Blatt and signing their assistant Tyronn Lue to a multi-year deal. While the fact that their coach won’t be serving in the All-Star Game is the last thing on Cleveland’s mind right now, this now open the door for Raptors’ Dwane Casey to coach the Eastern All-Stars on his home court. That is assuming the Raptors hold on to second place in the East – they are currently up two games on the Atlanta Hawks.
This would be a great move for Toronto, who are hosting their first All-Star Game, if they can get their head coach in the game as well. It would also ensure that both Kyle Lowry (voted in by the fans) and Demar DeRozan will get to play in the game. If the NBA wants to play towards the home crowd for this All-Star Game, that will do the trick.