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Cavs players open up about former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Evan Dammarell | Last updated 10/17/24

NBA preseason action usually serves as a tune-up for the regular season. However, it carried a little extra meaning when the Detroit Pistons hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sure, it was the first meeting between Cleveland and Detroit, long-standing Central Division rivals. But it was also the first time that Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and the Cavs would face their former head coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, who is now running the show for the Pistons.

Hired initially as an assistant before the 2019-20 season, Bickerstaff took over for the out-of-place John Beilein midway through, leading Cleveland to a 5-6 record and quickly agreeing to a multi-year contract. During his run, Bickerstaff helped guide the franchise through a challenging rebuild. Along the way, he instilled a playoff-level culture through a defense-first identity and helped turn the Cavs into a contender.

“J.B. gave me the keys to the car,” Garland said. “He put me in this position I’m at now. He believed in me. He trusted me. We started winning when he became head coach. The word that comes to mind is trendsetter. The two bigs that we started playing with. Minnesota is doing it. Detroit is doing it. We’re still doing it here. It was a culture change. I’m proud of him. That’s my guy.”

Each year under Bickerstaff’s watch, the Cavs improved and advanced. Bickerstaff capped his coaching run with the team’s first LeBron James-less postseason series win in more than 30 years. However, despite advancing to the conference semifinals, the Cavs were ousted by Boston 4-1. Soon after, team decision-makers reassessed Bickerstaff’s future and determined it best to go in a different direction. Following a lengthy coaching search, the Cavs tabbed Kenny Atkinson as Bickerstaff’s replacement.

What was J.B. Bickerstaff’s legacy with the Cavs?

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff talks to guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the second half against the Chicago Bulls at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

“We accomplished some goals,” Mitchell said. “I think, obviously, we’re judged on championships. We didn’t win one, but we showed growth, and obviously, his tenure started before I got here, so you look at the growth of the guys around here. Evan (Mobley), D.G. (Darius Garland), Isaac (Okoro), Dean (Wade) — he did a phenomenal job here, and I have no doubt he’ll continue that in Detroit.”

Despite the team’s offensive warts during his time with the Cavs, Bickerstaff still deserves credit for helping grow and develop this team into what it is today. He’ll go down as the fifth-longest tenure in Cavs coaching history, appearing in 346 games at the helm. His 176-170 record between the regular season and playoffs also keeps him in the top ten all-time in winning percentage for Cleveland coaches. All in all, Bickerstaff was given an untenable task: leading a rebuilding team picking up the pieces of LeBron James’s latest departure. Nevertheless, he kept his nose close to the grindstone, building the Cavs into what they have become today.

“He took a team that … we weren’t the same team when he left … and he came in and changed the system,” big man Jarrett Allen said. “He brought us to a higher place than where we started.”

When this preseason tilt began, Bickerstaff was in blue and red, not wine and gold. Atkinson was instead coaching the Cavs. It’s a weird, dynamic shift from where Cleveland once was; it’s clear that Bickerstaff’s legacy with the Cavs still endures.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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