Tag: Tyronn Lue

Tyronn Lue says he still wishes he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron’s former Cavaliers coach, Tyronn Lue, says he wishes he was still coaching in Cleveland.

After taking over for David Blatt in 2015, Tyronn Lue helped lead LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to three NBA Finals appearances. In 2016, he became the first coach to guide a Cleveland professional sports franchise to a championship since 1964. But even after going 128-83 over four seasons–and securing a ring for the city–Cavs owner Dan Gilbert fired him anyway six games into the 2018-19 campaign.

During an interview with Joe Vardon of the The Athletic, LeBron’s former coach–who is currently an assistant on Doc Rivers staff with the Los Angeles Clippers–expressed that he still wished he were in Cleveland coaching the Cavaliers even with James’ departure for L.A.

“I don’t think it should’ve happened,” Lue told The Athletic. “When it happened, I just kind of … It puts everything in perspective. You’ve got to continue to keep working, it’s a business — you’ve got to understand that. It was tough. To win the first championship ever in Cleveland history, and then make the finals (the next two years) and then get fired six games in, it’s hard to swallow and it’s tough to deal with.

“You start thinking about things like what you could have done different or if it was going to happen if you did anything different anyway. You don’t see that very often where a coach goes to three straight finals and wins a championship, and gets fired (the season immediately after the third finals), six games into (the season). You probably have never seen it.

“When it happened, speaking to (GM) Koby (Altman) and speaking to (Cavs owner) Dan (Gilbert), they looked at like, ‘For you to be a championship coach, winning a championship and going to (three) straight finals, and then having to deal with this — it’s not really fair to you,’” Lue said. “You don’t ever want to be fired, no matter how you look at it. Whether the situation was good or not, you still never want to be fired and have that on your resume.”

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Lue moved out of that house every …

Lue moved out of that house every summer, and back into it before each of his four seasons as the Cavaliers head coach. He moved out for the final time in November 2019, after the Cavs fired him following an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season. They’ve been struggling through the rebuild since his dismissal, incurring 85 losses and experiencing messy moments. And yet, Lue, in his first interview since his dismissal, told The Athletic he still wishes he were in Cleveland, still coaching a franchise that he helped win its first and only NBA title, in 2016.

“Yeah, I do,” Lue said, after a full …

“Yeah, I do,” Lue said, after a full 12-second pause to consider the question. “What I tried to build there, I think the culture I tried to set … I thought we could do it together. Koby (Altman) being a young GM, me being a young coach, having young players. I won a championship there, so you have a chance and an opportunity to do something different, and you should have that leeway to be able to go through a couple challenging years. To win a championship and go to the (NBA) Finals should buy you a little time, you would think.”

Lue, 42, is now an assistant coach …

Lue, 42, is now an assistant coach under his friend and mentor, Doc Rivers, with the LA Clippers. They host the Cavs on Tuesday in Lue’s first game against his old team. “I don’t think it should’ve happened,” Lue said. “When it happened, I just kind of … It puts everything in perspective. You’ve got to continue to keep working, it’s a business — you’ve got to understand that. It was tough. To win the first championship ever in Cleveland history, and then make the finals (the next two years) and then get fired six games in, it’s hard to swallow and it’s tough to deal with. You start thinking about things like what you could have done different or if it was going to happen if you did anything different anyway. “You don’t see that very often where a coach goes to three straight finals and wins a championship, and gets fired (the season immediately after the third finals), six games into (the season). You probably have never seen it.”