David Blatt

Bio:
David Blatt (born David Blatt on May 22, 1959 in Framingham, MA) is an Israeli-American NBA basketball coach and former professional basketball player David played point guard at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981, and then played professional basketball in Israel for nine of the next 12 years. After a career-ending injury, he turned to coaching full-time. He coached various Israeli, European and Russian pro teams from 1981-2014 before signing on as head coach for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. In his first season he led the Cavs Central Division with a 53–29 mark, the best of any Cavaliers coach in team history. He took the team all the way to the NBA finals where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. The team fired David on January 22, 2016. While the Cavs held the best record in their conference (30-11), general manager David Griffin cited “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision” as the reason for the decision.

Best Known For:
David is best known for being a professional basketball coach, most recently with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

Personal Life:
David graduated from Princeton in 1981 with a B.A. in English literature. That same year he In 1981 he immigrated to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1991 he married Kinneret, a woman who played on a basketball team that he coached in Israel. Together the couple has  four children: twin daughters Shani and Adi, daughter Ela and son Tamir, who is following in his father’s footsteps in hoops and already a point guard for Israeli junior national basketball team.