Amid rumors that there is a disconnect between Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein and the team’s players, Cavs forward Larry Nance Jr. offered his own opinion.
Ideally, you want to keep those things in house. But that’s today’s NBA. … I’ve never had a problem with a coach in my life. I wanted to play for Coach Beilein. I wanted to play for him at Michigan.
Coming out of high school, Nance Jr. was an unranked prospect out of Richfield, Ohio. He didn’t receive an offer from Beilein and the Wolverines had one division I offer (Wyoming). After excelling in Laramie, Nance Jr. was drafted No. 27 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015.
After playing two and a half years with the Lakers primarily as the team’s backup power forward, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound high-flyer was traded to the Cavaliers.
So far this year, Nance Jr. is averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game along with 7.4 rebounds starting three of the 18 games he has played this season.
Beilein, in his first year as the head coach of the Cavaliers, has apparently struggled to command the attention of his team. The Cavs are currently 5-15 and sit at 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
The first-year head coach has been coaching since 1975 and led the Wolverines to nine NCAA Tournament appearances in his 12 years in Ann Arbor including a championship game appearances in 2013 and 2018.
Since superstar LeBron James left the team for the second time in the 2018 offseason, Cleveland has a combined record of 24-78.
