Did J.B. Bickerstaff Just Throw Some Shade At Cavaliers Center Jarrett Allen?

Ex-Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff may have just taken a swipe at Jarrett Allen for not playing through an injury.

May 13, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J. B. Bickerstaff reacts against the Boston Celtics in the second quarter of game four of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

J.B. Bickerstaff is no longer the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, meaning that he is free to take shots at his former running mates if he wants to. It seems like that is what he just did with Jarrett Allen.

Following the Boston Celtics' NBA Finals win over the Dallas Mavericks, Bickerstaff made an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio to discuss Mavericks star Luka Doncic playing through a thoracic contusion he sustained early in the series.

Bickerstaff marveled how Doncic was "taking shots shots in his ribs" so that he could get on the floor and play. That's a pretty interesting way of putting it, considering that Allen bowed out of the Cavaliers' first-round series win to the Orlando Magic due to bruised ribs and did not play in the club's second-round loss against the Celtics.

Maybe it was just a coincidental choice of words on Bickerstaff's part, but when you take into account the fact that Bickerstaff just got fired, there's a very good chance this was sour grapes on his part.

Bickerstaff took over as Cavs head coach midway through the 2019-20 campaign after John Beilein resigned. In five-plus seasons at the helm for the Cavaliers, Bickerstaff went 176-160 (including playoffs) while leading Cleveland to back-to-back postseason appearances.

The Cavs won 48 games this season and were able to bag 51 victories last year. That apparently wasn't enough for Bickerstaff to keep his job.

Meanwhile, Allen played in 77 games during the 2023-24 campaign and averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over 31.7 minutes a night while shooting 63.4 percent from the floor.

The 26-year-old was originally acquired by the Cavaliers in a blockbuster four-team trade that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in January 2021.