Leader of the Pack
J.B. Bickerstaff on Tackling a Summer of Change and Issues Beyond Basketball
by Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG)
6/10/20 | Cavs.com
At some point, JB Bickerstaff will get back to the normal head coaching duties of the Cavaliers – something he’d done (and done well) in 20 days of work.
Since that time – when the NBA season came to a screeching halt in early March – Bickerstaff’s job has morphed into something completely different. And with the Cavaliers out of the league’s 22-team bubble in Orlando, Cleveland’s coach is currently trying to find ways for he and his squad to navigate the future, both on the floor and in an increasingly complex society.
It seems like forever ago since Bickerstaff took the reins of the Wine & Gold just after the All-Star Break – going 5-6 with a handful of signature wins. And in his conference call with the collective media on Tuesday, he sounded like a man determined to make sure it doesn’t seem like forever until they play again.
"If you take eight, nine months off in between games, no doubt that it’ll be a competitive disadvantage for your group,” said Bickerstaff. “So, our front office and leadership has reached out, we've had discussions with the other eight teams as coaches to try to figure out a way to put something in place so that we can negate that disadvantage as best we possibly can.
"How do we get guys together in market, how do we get some competitive games out of it? There’s nothing definitive yet, but we are fighting and there are other teams that I know for sure are fighting to get something done because development is key. Obviously Golden State is a different animal, and they've got different circumstances – but for most of us that aren't in, development is key.”
Even with some key injuries over Bickerstaff’s 11-game run, the Cavaliers looked like a different team that limped into the midseason recess with a 14-40 mark. Cleveland knocked off San Antonio and Denver, completing season sweeps of both. Overcame a 23-point second-half deficit to hand Miami its only overtime loss of the year and beating Philly by two touchdowns two nights later.
J.B. Bickerstaff recently joined several other NBA head coaches -- including Lloyd Pierce, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich and Doc Rivers -- on a committee on racial injustice and reform
David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
But after a road loss to the Bulls, and before leaving town for another five games, the COVID-19 crisis paused the regular season. And this past week, the NBA announced that only 22 franchises would be vying for the Playoffs and a chance to salvage what’s been an historic 2019-20 campaign.
"Historic,” “2020” and “campaign” are words the world is going to hearing a lot of over the next few months. And Bickerstaff also addressed an unprecedented time in our country – and how he plans to meet the challenge head on.
With protests exploding all over the country this past two weeks over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the NBA has been at the forefront in both speaking out as well trying to find solutions to the nation’s deep, painful problems.
And this week, the National Basketball Coaches Association established a committee (initiated by former Cavs assistant and current Hawks head coach, Lloyd Pierce) on racial injustice and reform – with Bickerstaff joining Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Doc Rivers, David Fizdale, Stan Van Gundy, Quin Snyder and his close friend, Pierce.
"Our league is more than basketball, our players are more than just athletes – they are spokesmen, they’re fathers, they’re brothers, they’re sons and they have opinions. And they share in the fears that all of our community have,” said Bickerstaff, one of eight African-American head coaches in the NBA. “We've had conversations with our guys about it and they verbalized it to us the fear that they have with police interaction, the fear that they have that they fit the description.”
Popovich and Kerr have been outspoken politically for a while now. And more voices are likely to emerge over what promises to be a heated summer ahead.
"All of those things, as sad as it is, are still prevalent – and the League has given people the opportunity to speak and share their mind without consequence,” said the 41-year-old coach. “And I think that's the most important thing, even for us as coaches and the things that we've done as a Coach's Association recently. You don't speak your mind as comfortably if you don't know that you have the support behind you and organizationally.
“And we feel like we have the support here with the Cavaliers, and then from a league standpoint we know we have their support as well – so it gives guys an opportunity to truly impact change without fear of repercussion.”
"Our league is more than basketball, our players are more than just athletes – they are spokesmen, they’re fathers, they’re brothers, they’re sons and they have opinions. And they share in the fears that all of our community have."
Bickerstaff is one of the league’s most well-respected figures – the son of legendary coach and Cavs senior advisor Bernie Bickerstaff who’s carved his own unique path that led him to Cleveland’s top post in mid-February.
Even without advancing to the 22-team tournament in the Magic Kingdom, Bickerstaff and the Cavaliers have a busy summer.
Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova, Ante Zizic- and potentially Andre Drummond- are set to become free agents. And like the other eight teams outside the bubble – and six inside – they’ll be jockeying for position in the Draft Lottery (on August 25) for the NBA Draft on October 15.
Bickerstaff and the Cavs brass have been able to watch some tape on this year’s incoming class. But with no Tournament it’s tougher to get a true reading.
"There's so much more pressure in the Tournament, the one-and-done-type games, and you want to see how people react under those pressures. Our front office again is one of the hardest working groups I've been around, so they've been out on the road, they've already seen these guys a ton, the research that you're getting, the information they're getting, the interviews that they had with these guys – they're digging as deep as they possibly can. But you do miss that.”
Eventually, Bickerstaff and the Cavaliers will return to basketball – wherever it’ll be played, against whom and when are still up in the air. In the meantime, his job is to hold his troops together over an unsure offseason.
Cavs legend Campy Russell called JB Bickerstaff the right man at the right time for the Cavaliers head coaching job – and after just a few short months, that would be impossible to argue.
“These are extremely difficult times, and this is something that I've never experienced before,” said Bickerstaff. “So it's just one of those things where you have to trust yourself and trust your gut and figure out a way to put people first and put people before yourself and keep managing that way.
"You put yourself in Kevin Love’s mind, you put yourself in Collin [Sexton's] mind and KP's [Kevin Porter Jr.] mind and Larry [Nance Jr.'s] mind and you figure out what they need, and you try to provide that forum. And it can shift, depending on the information that you have week to week. But I think that's the way that we've gone about it and I think that's the way that works best. We are a team. Like I always say: we didn't choose to play golf or tennis – we chose to play a team sport. We're pack animals, so making sure the pack is OK is first and foremost.”