From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 19, 2019
Basketball coach David Blatt announces he has multiple sclerosis
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIsraeli basketball coach David Blatt announces he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Blatt, who currently coaches Greek squad Olympiacos, says he learned he had the disease a few months ago.
“When I got over the initial shock and pain of understanding how this would and could change my life from today going forward, I decided I wasn’t giving in to anything. I was only going to adapt and adjust and find ways to continue my life as normally as possible,” he says in a statement on the Olympiacos website.
Blatt vows to continue coaching and says the disease will not affect his ability to do so.
“I am fortunate. I have great doctors trainers physical therapists and management that accept my disabilities and help me overcome. How could I possibly complain? I absolutely cannot and will not. It’s wasted effort and while I ask my players and staff to be the best version of themselves, I must ask and even demand from myself to do the same,” he says.
Blatt, an American citizen, left the United States after playing college basketball at Princeton to play professionally in Israel.
After retiring, he went on to coaching, leading local powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv to a EuroLeague championship victory in 2014.
Following the EuroLeague title, he was hired to be the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, whom he led to the NBA finals in 2015 before losing to the Golden State Warriors.
He was fired the next season and coached in Turkey for two years before joining Olympiacos, one of the top squads in Greece.
The Times of Israel Community.