Before the Los Angeles Lakers finally settled on Frank Vogel as the team's new head coach prior to the start of the 2019-20 season, Tyronn Lue was actually the frontrunner for the high-profile job. As it turns out, however, Lue and the Lakers brass did not see eye to eye during contract talks, which ultimately led to the one-time NBA champion coach walking away from what could have been a tremendous opportunity for him.
According to Bill Oram and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, the biggest stumbling block was both camps' inability to come to terms on Lue's contract:
The offer from the Lakers was not negotiable: three years, $18 million. Lue was seeking something closer to the five-year, $35 million contract he received from Cleveland after winning a title.
For what it's worth, L.A. eventually signed Vogel — who was reportedly already willing to take a role as Lue's assistant with the Lakers — on a three-year deal for an undisclosed amount. It would probably be safe to assume that it would have been in the same price range that they were offering Lue, if not even lower.
The report also states that aside from the contract, Lue was also taken aback by how the Lakers were unwilling to give him a free hand in terms of selecting his own coaching team:
Also, the Lakers wanted to help Lue select his assistant coaches, and that frustrated him. Lue was stunned, sources said, when he met with the Lakers’ deep thinkers for the first time (prior to any contract discussions) and Kurt Rambis, a senior adviser to Pelinka and team owner Jeanie Buss, asked Lue if he would accept him — Rambis — on Lue’s bench.
Right now, Lue sits at the helm of the Lakers' cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. He was recently promoted to the head coaching post following the departure of Doc Rivers.
Needless to say, Lue and the Lakers have a bit of history, and this narrative only makes the rivalry between these two sides even more intriguing.
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