DETROIT -- Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein reached out to his players late Wednesday night, apologizing for a critical verbal mistake that he made during the team’s film session at a Detroit hotel earlier in the day, sources confirmed to cleveland.com.

Multiple players reached via text late Wednesday night declined to comment on the situation. Members of the organization were still making calls and gathering facts into the early hours of Thursday morning.

During Wednesday’s off-day film session, Beilein wanted to point out and correct the many late-game woes that have cost the Cavs a few victories recently, including Tuesday night against the Pistons. He’s been frustrated with the team’s inability to make the proper play during this five-game losing skid. At one point near the end of Wednesday’s film breakdown, which lasted about 45 minutes, Beilein said the players were no longer playing “like a bunch of thugs" instead of “slugs,” which is the word he meant to use in hopes of getting his guys to recognize that they hadn’t been playing hard or fast at various points.

“I didn’t realize that I had said the word ‘thugs,’ but my staff told me later I did and so I must have said it,” Beilein said, according to ESPN on Wednesday night. “I meant to say slugs, as in slow-moving. We weren’t playing hard before, and now we were playing harder. I meant it as a compliment. That’s what I was trying to say. I’ve already talked to eight of my players tonight, and they are telling me that they understand.”

Beilein understands the severity of his error and is contrite. The Cavs will hold shootaround Thursday morning at Little Caesars Arena. Beilein is expected to address the situation then.

The Cavs are taking this issue seriously. They tried to collect all the information they could, talking to every person that was in the room and asking them to to speak candidly, before determining their next step.

Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman, who played a large role in hiring Beilein as head coach after an extensive search, was made aware of the issue following the film session and reached out to Beilein, players and coaches for clarification later Wednesday, sources say. Altman was en route to Atlanta, the start of what was supposed to be a week-long scouting trip that he’s decided to cut short. He was planning to take in the Auburn/Georgia game this weekend, getting a closer look at lottery pick Anthony Edwards. But because of Beilein’s stunning error, Altman will fly into Detroit Thursday.

Sources say the feedback as of early Thursday morning was that the team is OK, players understand Beilein’s explanation and they can move forward with him as head coach. Some players, sources say, weren’t even aware of Beilein’s poor word choice right away.

The Cavs’ six-game road trip officially begins Thursday night and ends with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 18.

Beilein, 66, is in the first year of a five-year contract after spending more than 40 years in college.

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