SPORTS: John Beilein's Time as Cavs Head Coach Has Come to An End

Source: Jason Miller / Getty

After only half a season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are changing coaches, and it does not involve having John Beilein finishing out the current season as head coach.

The transition from 40 years of coaching college basketball with great success to a new opportunity coaching professional basketball did not turn out to be as successful as he and the Cavs were hoping it would be.

From WKYC 3News Cleveland:

So much so that according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Beilein is out as Cavs head coach just 54 games into his five-year contract. In that span, Cleveland has gone 14-40, which marks the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the second-worst record in the NBA.

Replacing Beilein will be J.B. Bickerstaff, who had been the team’s assistant coach. He will serve the position as a full-time head coach, not interim.

As for the departing coach, Beilein was ready to depart from his main role with the Cavs as he has been “miserable” as head coach for the team, who was also willing to pull the plug on his employment despite his contract, along with the hype surrounding his hiring.

He was expected to help the team improve on their second season without LeBron James, who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, the Cavs are the worst team in the Eastern Conference, and one of the worst two overall in the NBA along with the Golden State Warriors, with a lack of chemistry that has become more apparent as the year has been progressing.

The relationship between the players and Beilein has also quickly deteriorated beyond repair. They were “frustrated” and “unhappy” with the way he was coaching them as he had no experience in the NBA prior to joining the Cavs.

Things got worse in January when Beilein called the team “thugs,” though he later apologized to them, saying he meant to call them “slugs.”

Now, that increasingly heated relationship between the coach and the players is reportedly over.

Beilein is not leaving empty handed, as he is expected to be paid a portion of his salary from the remainder of this current NBA season.

Bickerstaff will now serve as a head coach for the third time in his career. He had a similar role for the Houston Rockets (2015-16) on an interim basis, and for the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-19) as a regular head coach.

Here is hoping this will get better between Bickerstaff and your Cleveland Cavaliers.