Cavaliers superstar forward LeBron James believes that Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts should have won Coach of the Year.
LeBron James has had plenty of opinions lately on NBA hardware and awards. After making comments about what he believed to be the definition of the Most Valuable Player award, which some felt was him trying to take away from Stephen Curry, James has now moved on to giving his opinion on the Coach of the Year award.
The award was coincidentally won by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who did a remarkable job of leading his team to a record season after missing the first 43 games of the year.
The man that James believes should have won the award is Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. In interview during the Cavaliers’ practice on Thursday, James spoke about the remarkable job that Stotts did with the Trail Blazers this season, which has been transcribed by Cleveland.com.
"“I think Terry Stotts should have been or could have been Coach of the Year. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen a team lose four starters and still be in the same position as far as the postseason success they had.“I mean they lost Batum, they lost Matthews, they lost Robin and they lost LaMarcus in the off-season and the only returning starter was Dame [Damian Lillard].”“I think Terry Stotts should have been or could have been Coach of the Year. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen a team lose four starters and still be in the same position as far as the postseason success they had.“I mean they lost Batum, they lost Matthews, they lost Robin and they lost LaMarcus in the off-season and the only returning starter was Dame [Damian Lillard].”"
Now it’s certainly interesting that his comments all seem to revolve around the Golden State Warriors in some fashion or another. Whether that’s simply mind games or how he truly feels, it will further add fuel to the fire if the two teams meet in the NBA Finals.
There’s absolutely no denying the job that Stotts did with Portland this season. The team lost four starters from last year and everyone had them picked to be in the Ben Simmons sweepstakes.
Instead, they rebuilt with a great nucleus of young talent around Damian Lillard and showed that they’re an upcoming team that is on the rise in the NBA. If Stotts had been named Coach of the Year, no one would have had a problem with it.
It’s just a little weird hearing it come out of the mouth of James.
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