Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has thrown a lot of praise toward former head coach Doc Rivers, who soon hired Lue to his Clippers staff after the 43-year-old was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Appearing on ESPN's “The Jump” with Rachel Nichols, Lue spoke on how he called Rivers in order to get his take on accepting the job with the Clippers:
“I couldn't have taken this job without Doc's blessings,” said Lue. “When the Clippers reached out, I made sure I talked with Doc to see how he felt about it. He said, ‘Ty, you absolutely have to do it. If you don't take it, somebody else will. If I wanted anyone to have that job, it would be you, Ty.' So once he gave me that blessing, it kind of went on from there.”
Later today on The Jump: my fireside chat (literally) with Ty Lue. Here's what Doc Rivers told Ty when Ty called to ask about taking the Clippers head coaching job – whole interview runs at 3p ET/noon PT on ESPN: pic.twitter.com/6Bm7Kyo1MH
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 22, 2020
After things went south for the Clippers during their shocking elimination from the playoffs, the team decided to part ways with Rivers and begin its search for a new coach, which didn't take long seeing as how Lue was an in-house hire. Lue signed on officially as the new head coach on Tuesday, finalizing a five-year contract with the club.
As for Rivers, he was immediately picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers shortly after being fired by the Clippers. He now returns to the Eastern Conference, where much of his success lies after winning a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and returning to the NBA Finals once more in 2009.
Lue plans to shake things up a bit with the Clippers as he steps into his new role. He and the front office will be busy going into the offseason as they look to reshape their roster to have the best chance to contend against the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers next season.
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