What do we know about Cavs head coach David Blatt?
We know he is smart. He went to school at Princeton where he actually graduated with an actual college degree.
We know he is good at assimilating to other cultures. He spent most of his life in Europe. He coached the Russian national team despite being a Jewish man and Russia being a country with a traditionally antisemitic government. That goes beyond assimilating, really. That's thriving in an antagonistic and stressful environment.
We know he grew up a Celtics fan. It's well documented that Blatt is from the Boston area and fell in love with basketball watching the Celtics as a kid.
Yet just today, Blatt said this:
Cavs coach David Blatt was a huge Celtics fan while growing up. "I'm not one anymore, I assure you," he says, smiling.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) April 19, 2015
It doesn't seem like much, does it? I'm sure most Cavs fans are now thinking, "Good. That means he's all in on the Cavs." But to me, I see the edges of a lie. A dark, horrible lie.
Blatt has expertly infiltrated the Cavs in a plot to get the his beloved Celtics into the second round. Don't believe me? Well, let's look at the evidence.
Nobody who is a true fan of any team gives up his fandom over night. In the above quote, he protests just a little too much for it to sound genuine. It stinks of someone trying to throw everyone off his scent. I don't trust it.
The Celtics are one of the hottest teams in the East and certainly not a team most coaches would want to face in the playoffs as a second seed. Blatt had a chance to make sure the Cavs wouldn't have to face the Celtics in the first round when they played them twice in the final week of the regular season. Any rational coach would use this as an opportunity to make sure he wouldn't have to face that team.
Instead, he threw those two games, effectively picking the Celtics as his first round opponent. He could have won those games and had the chance to play a Nets team that just isn't very good. A Nets team that a man nicknamed the "The Truth" described as aimless and soft without his veteran leadership. He chose to play the Celtics.
So why would a lifelong Celtics fan choose to play his beloved Celtics even though they ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the NBA? I'll tell you why -- Blatt is going to throw this series. It's the only thing that makes sense.
No, I have no way of proving it. I have no direct evidence of this. But that is evidence in and of itself. A guy as smart and worldly as Blatt would know how to cover his tracks. He would know not to give anyone any additional reason to suspect him. That's why he couldn't even admit that he still loves the Celtics.
Any non-Celtics spy would answer that question about being a Celtics fan like, "I still love the Celtics any time they aren't playing my team. My being a fan will make it even sweeter to beat them. Blah blah blah." But he didn't give that answer. He flat out denied being a Celtics fan anymore.
But I see through him. And now you do, too, and we have to sit back and watch the subtle ways Blatt tries to throw this series.
I only hope somehow the players on his team overcome this great betrayal.