Lakers’ interest in former Cavs’ HC Tyronn Lue is least bit surprising

Former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is firmly in the running for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching position, which is anything but surprising.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Tyronn Lue won the 2016 NBA Finals together, as you’re probably aware, and the team went to two more Finals after that, and lost the next two to the same Golden State Warriors, in large part due to Kevin Durant joining the team.

Lue did a pretty good job when he was in Cleveland, as he amassed a career record of 128-83 (per Basketball Reference), and while there was plenty of drama in his two-and-just-over-a-half seasons as the team’s head coach, he seemed to get guys bought in at the right times, in the postseason, in particular.

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Lue was reportedly fired by Cleveland after the team started 0-6 in 2018-19, but it really wasn’t the right situation for him from the get-go, anyhow, as Lue seems to fit in better as a coach of more veteran-laden teams.

Lue has reportedly been a player’s coach in his head coaching career, which meshes well with LeBron James, and the two seemed to have outstanding rapport in when they were both in Cleveland.

James is now on the Los Angeles Lakers, courtesy of free agency last summer, and it appears that Lue may be his head coach once again.

The Lakers and their head coach of the last three seasons, Luke Walton, mutually parted ways earlier this month, and recently Walton became the head coach of the Sacramento Kings (and is now reportedly being investigated for an alleged sexual assault, h/t Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times and the details first obtained by TMZ), and Lue would seem to be a logical replacement for L.A.

Though James did miss 27 games due to injury this season (per Basketball Reference), which was mostly due to a reported groin injury, the Lakers seemed to have chemistry issues on the floor, and likely off of it because of constant trade rumors surrounding their young core, and it would be understandable for it to have affected Walton and the coaching staff, to go with the players, too.

Nonetheless, with the way Lue seemed to have his Cleveland Cavaliers’ group locked in when they absolutely needed to be (not just during regular season games mid-season), it makes sense with his track record in getting to three straight Finals with James (and others of course) that he’s reportedly firmly in the running for the L.A.’s head coaching opening.

Factoring in a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, it seems as though Lue could very well be the next head coach of the Purple and Gold.

As Charania touched on in the video above, Lue has “history in L.A.”

Lue proved to be a solid perimeter defender with the Lakers and won two titles with them in 2000 and 2001 alongside Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and others, so this job, I believe, has to be near and dear to the former Cleveland head coach.

According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (and h/t NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin), both Lue and current Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams (who reportedly has ties to James through Team USA as Turner noted), had strong interviews that left “lasting impressions” seemingly on Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and the team’s leadership.

Helin would also highlight how Williams, who is helping the Sixers amid their postseason run, reportedly interviewed with the Phoenix Suns for their vacant head coaching position, too, and Helin highlighted how Williams and Lue appear to be the “two frontrunners for the Lakers’ head coaching job.”

I would think L.A. eventually goes with Lue, though, because of his prior history with James. I would think that in order for James to maximize his chances of getting deep into the postseason for the rest of his career, he’ll want to be fully on the same page with his head coach, and Lue would likely present that, at least much more than was seemingly the case with James and Walton during the 2018-19 season, in which the Lakers ended up finishing just 37-45, per NBA.com, and of course, James’ absence killed them, but the team often seemed out of sync even when LeBron was healthy.

The Lakers being interested in Lue for their head coaching position is, as we’ve essentially said, the least bit surprising, and I’d be fairly shocked if Lue doesn’t get the job.