Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is known for defending his players and having great relationships with them.
The general recently bashed haters for trying to defame rising star Collin Sexton.
“I believe it’s disrespectful, things people say about him,” Bickerstaff said, doubling down on comments he made in camp. “I think people are looking for an excuse and he just happens to be the target. Collin is a great human being. He’s a great teammate and all he cares about is the right thing — winning basketball games and competing. That’s all that matters to him.
“For those who criticize him, it’s a shame to be honest with you. Ninety percent of our league can’t roll out of bed and get you 20 points. He can. If you can’t appreciate that and respect that, that’s on you. That’s not on Collin. And is he gonna continue to grow and get better? Yes. That’s our job to help him. But to say anything negative about that kid is more commentary on those people than it is on Collin.”
Sexton, 22, is off to one of the best personal starts in franchise history.
In fact, Sexton joined Cavs greats LeBron James, Austin Carr and Bingo Smith in the history books by becoming the fourth Cavalier to score 20 points in each of his team’s first six games of a season.
Of course, Sexton has a penchant for scoring. He’s averaging a career-best 26.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game this season.
Yet, the point guard received plenty of slack before the season for not being able to do much else other than score. Other members of the organization came to his rescue after he wasn’t named to ESPN’s recent list of top 100 players in the NBA.
The Cavs are off to 4-2 start this season.
