David Blatt

David Michael Blatt (; born May 22, 1959) is an Israeli-American professional basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Blatt played point guard at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981. He played in the Maccabiah Games for the USA national team that won a gold medal in 1981. He then played professional basketball in Israel for nine of the next 12 years. An injury ended his playing career and he began coaching full-time.

Blatt is one of the most successful American coaches in European basketball history. As a coach, Blatt has been the Israeli League Coach of the Year four times (1996, 2002, 2011, and 2014). He was the Russian Super League Coach of the Year (2005). In the 2012 Summer Olympics he led the Russian national team to win a Bronze medal. Blatt was also the Euroleague Coach of the Year (2014). He took over as Cleveland's head coach in 2014 His lifetime .639 winning percentage after the 2014–15 season was the best of any Cavaliers head coach in team history.

Blatt was born on May 22, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts. As a freshman he played junior varsity before becoming one of Framingham South's top players.

On August 19, 2019, he announced that he has Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, the most advanced form of the autoimmune disease.

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Category:1959 births
Category:Living people
Category:American basketball players
Category:Basketball coaches
Category:Israeli basketball players
Category:Jewish American sportspeople
Category:Jewish Israeli sportspeople
Category:National Basketball Association coaches
Category:People with multiple sclerosis
Category:Point guards
Category:Sportspeople from Boston
Category:Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky