Though Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has a lot to figure out with his current team, he will always appreciate his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before taking on his former organization on Sunday, Lue initially wanted to focus on the Clippers' business but opened up on the “unbelievable” championship years with the Cavs.
“It started with LeBron [James], as far as being the best player in the world, but just seeing how he worked every single day,” Lue said in his pregame press conference on Sunday at Rocket Arena. “When you go through shootaround, he's full speed. When you go through plays and just trying to work on execution, he's full speed, getting everybody to do it full speed.
“It was a breath of fresh air just knowing that you have the best player in the world. But he understands how important execution is, he understands how important it is bringing other guys along.”
From 2016 to 2018, Lue and his James-led Cavs set franchise records and went to the NBA Finals in every playoff run. There was familiarity with the core along the way, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love rounding out a Big Three that was consistently complemented with talent around it and rarely changed.
“We were able to run our stuff for four or five years straight, and then we could call a play from two years ago that our guys knew,” Lue said. “And so, just the preparation, just the durability with Kyrie and K-Love and just how had they sacrifice, but understanding it was to win whatever we had to do. It was a beautiful time. The fans were amazing. The organization was great.”
Lue went on to praise then-Cleveland general manager David Griffin and vice president of basketball operations Trent Redden for giving him his first head coaching opportunity. He was hired midseason on Jan. 22, 2016, after the Cavs parted ways with David Blatt despite being the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 30-11 record. As his lead assistant from the 2014 season to that point, Lue mentioned Sunday that he thought Blatt “did a great job.”
Admittedly, Lue felt pressure every year with James on the roster, noting his streak of consecutive Finals appearances stemming back to his Miami Heat days.
“But it's not a bad thing 'cause if you have pressure, it means you have an opportunity to win a championship,” Lue said. “And so, going to four straight Finals, having a chance to win a championship and just seeing how LeBron did it, it was huge for me because it kept me on my toes. I had to be alert for everything. If me and him [were] on the same sideline talking and going over the defense, [if] he hears one word that's wrong, he eyes back. He knows what's going on.
“So he just kept me sharp. To have my first opportunity with him really made me who I am today.”
Following a 0-6 start amid James' decision to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, Lue's time with the Cavs came to an abrupt halt in the 2018-19 campaign. He finished with a 128-83 regular-season record and went 41-20 in the playoffs. Lue spent one season on the sidelines with the Clippers as an assistant to Doc Rivers before he was promoted to head coach ahead of the 2020-21 season.
From that point on, Lue has amassed a 239-179 record with LA, taking the organization to the Western Conference Finals in his first year. Unfortunately, since then, the team hasn't advanced past the first round of the postseason. With that said, the Clippers have made the playoffs in four of five years under his watch.
Lue's experience with James and the Cavs has left an indelible mark on his career and life, and he's used it to become a better coach in his current situation.
“When I first started coaching, I thought I'd be a sit-down coach and just cross my legs and let it play out,” Lue said. “But, as I saw the first couple games, it doesn't work like that. Me having to change and understanding that you can't do everything we did in Cleveland with your other teams. You don't have the same personnel. You can't play the same style of basketball. You can't expect the same out of everyone.
“The biggest thing for me was being able to adjust and kinda change your style of play to the team and personnel that you have.”
Hopefully, as the Clippers go through a difficult start to the 2025-26 season, Lue can lean on his learnings from the past to help dig them out of the rut they're in.
