Former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff — who is now leading the Detroit Pistons from the sidelines — received mixed reactions from fans of the Cavaliers in his return to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Friday night.
Cavaliers star Jarrett Allen implied after the game that Bickerstaff should have received more praise in his return.
“I don’t think it should’ve been lukewarm. It should’ve been praise for him.”#Cavs big man Jarrett Allen on the crowd’s reception to J.B. Bickerstaff tonight.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) October 26, 2024
During introductions before the start of the Cavaliers-Pistons game, there was a combination of cheers and boos for Bickerstaff.
A fairly loud mix of boos and cheers for former #Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff during pre-game introductions.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) October 25, 2024
Later, during a tribute video dedicated to Bickerstaff that played in the first quarter, the former Cavs skipper received a warmer reaction.
After receiving a mixture of cheers and boos during pregame introductions, former #Cavs coach and current #Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was mostly cheered by the Cleveland crowd during a welcome back video in the first quarter pic.twitter.com/SwtcHwZz3O
— Nate Ulrich (@ByNateUlrich) October 26, 2024
Bickerstaff helped guide the Cavaliers back to relevancy after LeBron James departed the team for the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018.
In Bickerstaff’s first full season as Cleveland’s head coach, the Cavaliers were one of the worst teams in the league. But by the time his tenure came to an end, he had led the team to two playoff appearances and one playoff series victory. The Cavaliers qualified for the 2023 and 2024 NBA Playoffs, and Cleveland won its first series since the James era when it eliminated the Orlando Magic in seven games last season.
The Cavaliers replaced Bickerstaff with Kenny Atkinson, who is off to a strong start to his tenure as the team’s head coach. Cleveland owns a 2-0 record to this point — which is tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference — and has won each of its first two games by double digits. Before the Cavaliers took care of business against the Pistons, they blew the Toronto Raptors out by 30 points in their season opener.
Cleveland will try to remain undefeated on the season when it takes on the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Saturday night. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, Washington projects to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season and is fresh off a blowout loss to the Boston Celtics. The matchup will be the first leg of a two-game road trip for the Cavs.
