Whatever worked in Israel and Russia for Blatt didn't translate well to the NBA, mostly because he never gained the confidence of LeBron James. The lectures came off as arrogant, sometimes tone-deaf — like when Blatt compared his job to that of a fighter pilot, or when he insulted Kevin Love by saying the power forward was not a max player. He still managed to coach the Cavs to the 2015 NBA Finals on the back of James, who was openly ignoring Blatt by the end of that run. Blatt was then fired in December while holding the best record in the Eastern Conference.