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Report: LeBron calls Cavs' plays, Blatt simply repeats them

David Richard / USA TODAY Sports

Despite the frequent questioning of LeBron James' relationship with Kevin Love (and Kyrie Irving), everything seems to be going swimmingly for the Cleveland Cavaliers in James' return season.

The team has won 29 of its last 36 games to rocket up the Eastern Conference standings and have reclaimed their spot as the betting favorites to capture the 2015 championship.

But head coach David Blatt's role in that success is still being called into question, and a recent report from ESPN's Brian Windhorst isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the first-year NBA coach.

"The Princeton offense that David Blatt installed in the preseason, they just threw that out," Windhorst said on Bill Simmons' B.S. Report podcast.

"What typically happens, and this has been happening for like three months now, is LeBron will take the ball, and LeBron will call the play. David Blatt will see what play LeBron calls, and he will repeat it to the team.

"That happens on a regular basis."

Windhorst reported in January - right before the team turned its season around - that the Cavs were undermining Blatt's authority.

Blatt came to the Cavaliers after a legendary coaching career in Europe that spanned two decades and produced a number of league championships and cups in Israel, Russia and Italy, and he's remained stoic in his dealings with the media despite rumblings all year that he's in over his head in the Association.

If the Cavs end Cleveland's 51-year pro sports championship drought, or even make the finals, Blatt would seem to be an obvious choice to continue on with the team.

But given the reports that have been emanating out of Cleveland all season and owner Dan Gilbert's notorious impatience, anything less than an Eastern Conference championship could conceivably leave the door open for change.

For now, Blatt is the head coach of a 48-27 NBA team in his first year on the job.

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