Cavaliers Part Ways With Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff After Four-Plus Seasons

The 45-year-old led Cleveland to two NBA playoff appearances and one NBA Play-In Tournament appearance.

Jan 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on the bench against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at State Farm Arena. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a step forward during the 2023-24 season by reaching their first Eastern Conference Semifinals since 2018.

But after falling to the Boston Celtics in five games, the team entered the offseason with some decisions to make.

Just eight days after a second-round series defeat, Cleveland has reportedly made a major change to its organization.

On Thursday morning, Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman announced that the franchise has parted ways with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after four-plus seasons.

“J.B. is a well-respected NBA coach and an incredible human-being,” says Koby Altman. “Over the past four years, he helped establish a culture that progressively drove players to become the best versions of themselves. Decisions like these are never easy, particularly when you… pic.twitter.com/GHriGIwOcK

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 23, 2024

After reaching the 2018 NBA Finals, the wine-and-gold went a combined 38-109 over the next two seasons. But under Bickerstaff’s leadership, the team turned around and became a playoff contender. Overall, Cleveland went 170-159 (.517) in his four-plus years as the team’s head coach.

Jan 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on the bench against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at State Farm Arena. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

After Cleveland went 22-50 in his first full campaign at the helm, the team went 44-38 the following season and made its first NBA Play-In Tournament appearance in franchise history. This led to Bickerstaff finishing fifth in the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year Award voting. He then finished fourth in the next season’s voting, as the team made its first NBA Playoffs appearance since 2018.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania, one potential replacement candidate to reportedly keep an eye on is Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, who coached current Cavaliers Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert with the Brooklyn Nets. Charania also reports that New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego is another expected candidate for the job.

Ultimately, time will tell who the Cavs decide on as their next head coach.

But one thing for certain is that a new face will be patrolling the Cleveland bench next season.