Cavs speak out on Koby Altman’s arrest for impaired driving

The Cleveland Cavaliers issued a statement Saturday after president of basketball operations Koby Altman reportedly was charged with impaired driving.

“We are aware of an incident involving Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman,” the Cavaliers said. “We are currently gathering more information and have no further comment at this time.”

Altman was charged with “committing a marked lanes violation and OVI” by troopers.

“The FOX 8 I-Team has learned Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman was charged Friday night for impaired driving,” the report said.

“Ohio State Highway Patrol says troopers stopped Altman just before 9 p.m. on Route 2 near East 55th Street in Cleveland.”

The 41-year-old has been with the Cavaliers since 2012, earning promotions to general manager in 2017 and then to his current position in January 2022.

During his time with the franchise, the Cavaliers have reached the NBA Finals four times and won the only championship in their history in 2016. He has overseen the drafting of current standouts Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and helped orchestrate the trades that brought Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz last offseason and Jarrett Allen from the Brooklyn Nets in 2021 in a multiteam deal that involved James Harden.

The Cavaliers are thought to have had one of the better offseasons in the NBA this summer, adding Max Strus and Georges Niang, re-signing Caris LeVert and acquiring Ty Jerome and Damian Jones.

Cleveland could be considered a team on the rise after reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2018 last season. The Cavaliers won 51 regular season games but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in five games by the New York Knicks.

Altman has received high praise from people around the NBA during his time with Cleveland. One rival GM described his counterpart as “fearless,” and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert spoke highly of Altman after he missed out on winning NBA Executive of the Year for the 2021-22 season.

He may have an interesting dilemma in the future as rumors persist that Mitchell may not be willing to stay with the Cavaliers for the long term. Talk of the All-Star eventually winding up with the Knicks won’t go away, with Jalen Brunson even having to address the idea this offseason.

Mitchell is under contract with the Cavs for at least the next two seasons, with a player option on his deal for the 2025-26 campaign. The 26-year-old could decline that to become a free agent following the 2024-25 season. The organization, headed by Gilbert and Altman, reportedly is “rolling out the red carpet” for Mitchell to avoid the possibility of trading him before that contract is up.