David Blatt facts for kids

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David Blatt
דוד מיכאל בלאט

Blatt as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Counselor

Personal information

Born

May 22, 1959 (age 66)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

Nationality

American / Israeli

High school

Framingham South
(Framingham, Massachusetts)

Listed height

6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)

Career information

College

Princeton (1977–1981)

NBA Draft

1981 / Undrafted

Pro career

1981–1993

Coaching career

1993–2019

League

Ligat HaAl

Career history

As player:

1981–1984

Maccabi Haifa

1986–1987

Hapoel Jerusalem

1987–1989

Maccabi Netanya

1989–1990

Hapoel Galil Elyon

1990–1991

Hapoel Jerusalem

1991–1992

Ironi Nahariya

1992–1993

Maccabi Hadera

As coach:

1993–1994

Hapoel Galil Elyon

1994–1995

Hapoel Galil Elyon (assistant)

1995–1999

Hapoel Galil Elyon

1999–2001

Maccabi Tel Aviv (assistant)

2001–2003

Maccabi Tel Aviv

2003–2004

Maccabi Tel Aviv (assistant)

2004–2005

Dynamo St. Petersburg

2005–2007

Benetton Treviso

2006–2012

Russia

2007–2008

Efes Pilsen

2008–2009

Dynamo Moscow

2010

Aris

2010–2014

Maccabi Tel Aviv

2014–2016

Cleveland Cavaliers

2016–2018

Darüşşafaka

Career highlights and awards

As head coach:

FIBA EuroBasket champion (2007)
EuroLeague champion (2014)
EuroCup champion (2018)
FIBA EuroChallenge champion (2005)
5× Israeli Super League champion (2002, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2014)
LBA champion (2006)
ABA League champion (2012)
Italian Cup winner (2007)
6× Israeli Cup winner (2002, 2003, 2011–2014)
EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2014)
Russian League Coach of the Year (2005)
4× Israeli Super League Coach of the Year (1996, 2002, 2011, 2014)
Russian Federation Order of Friendship award recipient (2014)

As assistant coach:

4x Israeli Basketball League champion (1993, 1999–2001)
3x Israeli Cup champion (1999–2001)
SuproLeague champion (2001)
EuroLeague champion (2004)

Medals

Men's Basketball

Player representing United States
Maccabiah Games
Gold	1981 Maccabiah
Head Coach representing Russia
Summer Olympic Games
Bronze	2012 London
EuroBasket
Gold	2007 Spain
Bronze	2011 Lithuania

David Michael Blatt (Hebrew: דוד מיכאל בלאט; born May 22, 1959) is an Israeli-American basketball expert. He used to be a coach and a player.

Blatt played basketball at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981. He also won a gold medal with the U.S. national team at the 1981 Maccabiah Games. After that, he played professional basketball in Israel for nine years. An injury ended his playing career, and he then became a full-time coach.

He is known as one of the most successful Israeli-American coaches in European basketball. As a coach, Blatt has won the Coach of the Year award four times (1996, 2002, 2011, and 2014). He was also named Coach of the Year in Russia (2005) and EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2014). Blatt became the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. He led them to the 2015 NBA Finals in his first year. The next year, his team was at the top of their conference, but he was fired mid-season. He then went back to coaching in Europe.

About David Blatt
Playing Basketball
Coaching Basketball
Working as an Executive
Awards and Honors
Images for kids
See also

About David Blatt

David Blatt was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts. His parents were William F. Blatt and Lillian Siegal Blatt. David is Jewish. As a boy, he went to a Reform Temple and attended Hebrew school. He later said that living in Israel made him feel "much more Jewish."

In college at Princeton University, a coach from an Israeli team asked him to play in Israel for the summer. This summer at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel changed his life. In 1981, Blatt graduated from Princeton with a degree in English literature.

Later in 1981, he moved to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1991, Blatt married Kineret, who was a professional basketball player he coached. They have four children: twin daughters Shani and Adi, daughter Ela, and son Tamir Blatt. Tamir is also a professional basketball player.

In 2023, David Blatt was chosen to light a torch at a special ceremony on Mount Herzl. This was to celebrate the 75th year of the State of Israel.

Playing Basketball

Blatt played basketball at Framingham South High School. He was also the class president there.

He played point guard for the Princeton Tigers college team from 1977 to 1981. He was the team captain.

He also played for the USA national team in the Maccabiah Games in 1981, where they won a gold medal. After the Maccabiah, Blatt played professional basketball in Israel for nine years. His playing career ended due to an injury, and he then started coaching.

Coaching Basketball

After he stopped playing, Blatt became an assistant coach for Hapoel Galil Elyon in 1993. The head coach was fired during the season, and Blatt took over. The next year, he became the Coach of the Year for 1996. He also became an assistant coach for the Israeli national team. He later coached the Russian national basketball team for six years, winning the EuroBasket 2007.

Coaching in Europe

In 1999, Blatt joined Maccabi Tel Aviv as an assistant coach. His team won the Israeli League and Israeli Cup. They also reached second place in the EuroLeague.

From 2000 to 2004, he continued as an assistant coach for Maccabi Tel Aviv. During this time, Maccabi won a EuroLeague title and the SuproLeague title in 2001. In 2002, he became the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv and won his second Israeli "Coach of the Year" award.

In 2003, he agreed to become an assistant coach again when Pini Gershon returned as head coach. Together, they led Maccabi Tel Aviv to another EuroLeague title in 2004, winning the final game by a large margin. They also won the Israeli Championship and Israeli Cup.

In 2004, Blatt moved to Russia to coach Dynamo Saint Petersburg. He won the FIBA EuroCup championship with Dynamo and was named "Coach of the Year in Russia" for the 2004–05 season.

For the 2005–06 season, he became the head coach of Benetton Treviso in Italy. He led them to win the Italian Championship. In the same year, he also became the head coach of the Russian national basketball team. With Russia, he won the EuroBasket 2007 by beating Spain in the final game.

In 2007, Blatt became the head coach of Efes Pilsen in Turkey. He later coached Dynamo Moscow and Aris in Greece. In 2010, he returned to coach Maccabi Tel Aviv again. Blatt led the Russian national team to a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Blatt coaching the Russian national team in 2011

In 2014, Blatt led Maccabi Tel Aviv to win the EuroLeague championship. They had an amazing comeback against CSKA Moscow in the semifinal game and then beat Real Madrid in overtime. After this success, Blatt left Maccabi to try coaching in the NBA. As Maccabi's head coach, he had a very strong winning record.

Coaching in the NBA

On June 20, 2014, David Blatt was hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. After joining the Cavaliers, he was named the EuroLeague Coach of the Year.

In March 2015, Blatt won his first Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award. The Cavaliers were playing very well. They finished the season leading their division with a 53–29 record. Blatt's winning percentage was the best for any Cavaliers coach in team history at that time.

In his first season, the Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference title. Blatt and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors were the first rookie NBA coaches to face each other in the NBA Finals since 1947. The Cavaliers lost to the Warriors 4–2 in the Finals.

On January 22, 2016, the Cavaliers fired Blatt. Even though the team had the best record in their conference (30–11), the general manager said it was because of "a lack of fit." Blatt was replaced by his assistant, Tyronn Lue, who then led the Cavaliers to win their first NBA championship that season.

Even though Blatt only coached for the first half of that championship season, the Cavaliers sent him a 2016 NBA Championship ring. He first said no, but later accepted it.

Returning to Europe

On June 1, 2016, Blatt became the new head coach for Darüşşafaka in Turkey. In his first season, he led them to the EuroLeague quarterfinals.

In his second season with Darüşşafaka, Blatt won the 2018 EuroCup Championship. This made him only the second coach in history to win the EuroLeague, EuroBasket, EuroCup, and an Olympic medal.

On June 27, 2018, Blatt became the head coach for Olympiacos in Greece. He signed a two-year contract. On October 6, 2019, Blatt left Olympiacos. He announced that he had been diagnosed with PPMS, a condition that affects him for the rest of his life.

Working as an Executive

On December 18, 2019, Blatt announced he was retiring from coaching. He was then hired by the New York Knicks as a consultant. His contract with the Knicks ended after the 2019–20 season.

On May 28, 2020, he became a co-owner of the Czech basketball club BC Brno. This was through an Israeli company called True Player Group.

During the 2022–23 season, Blatt worked as a consultant for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He also served as a consultant for the Canadian national basketball team during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

David Blatt is currently a consultant for the Arizona Wildcats college team.