The locker room had the aura of a funeral home. Suited men stood at the entry way, greeting—watching. Silence echoed off of the maple, those impacted by the loss slowly shuffled about with their heads hanging and faces oozing disappointment. Some sat, some leaned; others came and went without saying a word. Laid to rest was the last 48 minutes of basketball, the Cleveland Cavaliers being brutally beaten in front of a home crowd by a team missing two of it’s starters in the playoff-bound Brooklyn Nets. As if any loss is well-timed, this one was especially tough due to the nature—an insurmountable 30-point halftime deficit—as well as the timing and fact that the 18-point loss was the 10th straight game which resulted in a similar outcome.

Also not aiding matters from a timing perspective is that this most recent defeat comes on the heels of rumors and speculation—coupled with crowd-sourced ire on social media platforms—surrounding the future of Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott. Following a victory, Scott can be found joking with his players, sharing laughs with his wife and gathering a few bites of sushi for the road. Following the latest loss, the parting words were Scott saying that he was not concerned with his future—”Whatever happens happens,” he said—the overriding narrative being that a rebuilding process has morphed into a toxic culture fueld by countless instances of implosion ¹ . As has happened all too often in the city of Cleveland, with accountability varying in terms of direction and level, questions of quitting and locker rooms lost are being lobbed.

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1. Say what you want, asking a high-ranking individual if he’s afraid of being fired is a pretty tough inquiry within a live environment. Answering it candidly is that much harder. [back]