Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue didn’t want to go down memory lane when first asked about the championship he won with the Cleveland Cavaliers ten years ago.
“I don’t even want to think about it,” Lue said when first asked what memories come to mind when visiting Cleveland.
That’s understandable.
Lue is in the midst of a difficult season with the Clippers. His veteran team has now lost 10 of its last 12 games. There doesn’t seem to be much reason for optimism moving forward, given that they’re
an older team that seems a step too slow in a league that is only getting faster.
Eventually, Lue gave in and talked about his time in Cleveland.
“The time I experienced here was unbelievable,” Lue said. “It started with LeBron.
“As far as being the best player in the world, but just seeing how he worked every single day. When you go through shoot around, he’s full speed. When you go through plays and just try to work on execution, he’s full speed. … It was just a breath of fresh air just knowing that you had the best player in the world, but he understands how important execution is. He understands how important it is bringing other guys along.”
Support us and Let ‘Em Know with Homage!
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can find the awesome Cavs’ Starter jacket HERE. Homage’s entire Cavs collection can be found HERE.
It’s easy to forget how much pressure the Cavs were under when Lue took over in the middle of the 2015-16 season. LeBron came back to Cleveland a year before to win a title. And at the time, that wasn’t guaranteed. No one knew how many more deep postseason runs he had in him. On top of that, the Golden State Warriors opened the season on a record-setting pace and seemed destined to repeat as champs.
“[There was] definitely a lot of pressure,” Lue said. “But it’s not a bad thing because…it only means you have a chance, an opportunity to win a championship.”
The 2016 Finals were a decade ago, but it might be several more decades before we see an NBA championship that is as culturally impactful. The 3-1 lead, LeBron ending a 52-year draught in his hometown, and everything else that led up to the title might never be matched.
Lue couldn’t have asked for a better way to get his coaching career started.
“It was a beautiful time,” Lue said. “The fans were amazing. The organization was great, David Griffin, Trent Redden gave me my first opportunity. I thought Coach [David] Blatt did a great job as well. So it was just, all in all, my first coaching experience, but it was really good.”
