“The game has given me everything,” Lue told Dave McMenamin, Cavs beat writer for ESPN.com. “And if I had to die on the court, I would die on the court because the game of basketball has given me so much. Without basketball, I wouldn’t be me. I don’t know where I would be at.”
ENOUGH SAID……………..
OKAY, JUST A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THIS 39YR OLD COACHING PHENOMENON:
Tyronn Jamar Lue (born May 3, 1977) is an American retired professional basketball player and current head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 175 lb (79 kg) point guard was selected out of the University of Nebraska by the Denver Nuggets with the 23rd overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft and was traded shortly thereafter to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won two NBA Championships in his first three seasons.
After his playing career ended in 2009, Lue became Director of Basketball Development for the Boston Celtics. In 2014, he was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers as associate head coach and was promoted to head coach on January 22, 2016, after the firing of David Blatt. During that same year, Lue would help lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their third NBA Finals appearance and their first NBA Championship.
Lue attended Raytown Senior High School in Raytown, Missouri. He later went to University of Nebraska. He played basketball and studied sociology. He was a key member of the 1995-96 team which won the NIT Tournament defeating St. Josephs in the finals. He finished his Nebraska career ranked third all-time in assists (432), fourth in three-pointers made (145) and attempted (407), fifth in steals (154) and seventh in scoring (1,577). Declaring for the NBA draft after his junior season, he led the Cornhuskers in assists in each of his three seasons and finished his career tied with Dave Hoppen for most games with 30 or more points.
Lue opted for early entry into the 1998 NBA Draft. He was selected 23rd overall by the Denver Nuggets but was traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Lakers with Tony Battie in exchange for Nick Van Exel. His first three years with the Lakers were disappointing. His playing time was limited and he suffered from injuries in 2000. However, Lue excelled in the 2001 playoffs. Due to his quickness, he was specifically used to guard Allen Iverson during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers would lose Game 1, but would sweep the next four games and go on to get a 4–1 series victory over Iverson’s 76ers, giving them the second of three consecutive titles.
In the off-season of 2001, Lue signed with the Washington Wizards, where he got considerably more playing time and subsequently became a better point guard. He played with the Orlando Magic in 2003–04 where he got to play a lot of minutes alongside Tracy McGrady, however the team had the worst record in the NBA that season: 21–61. After the season Lue, along with Juwan Howard and McGrady were traded to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato. In Houston, Lue did not get much playing time because of the number of point guards the Rockets had on their roster. He was traded mid-season to the Atlanta Hawks for Jon Barry. Lue starred in Atlanta, although again his team had the worst record in the NBA and their worst record in franchise history: 13–69.
On February 16, 2008, Lue was acquired by the Sacramento Kings in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. He was waived by the Kings on February 28, 2008. After clearing waivers, Lue signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks on March 4.
On July 17, 2008, Lue was signed by the Milwaukee Bucks.
On February 5, 2009, Lue was traded back to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Keith Bogans and cash considerations.
On October 23, 2009, Boston named Lue director of basketball development. In July 2013, he joined the Los Angeles Clippers‘ coaching staff.
On June 23, 2014, Lue joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as their new associate head coach, making him the highest paid assistant coach in the NBA in the process. Lue had been a top candidate for the Cavs’ head coaching job, which eventually went to David Blatt.
On January 22, 2016, Lue was named head coach of the Cavaliers immediately following the mid-season firing of Blatt.The contract was for three years.
On May 19, 2016, the Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, continuing their unbeaten streak in the 2016 playoffs and making Lue the first coach in NBA history to win his first 10 postseason games. Eight days later, Lue would end up making it to the NBA Finals in his first year of coaching, thus being one of the few coaches to ever make it to the NBA Finals after replacing a head coach during the regular season. On June 19, 2016, the Cavaliers won their first NBA Championship.
CONGRATULATIONS SIR, YOU’VE REACHED THE TOP AS A PLAYER WITH THE L.A. LAKERS TWICE, TO THE NBA FINALS AS THE DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT WITH THE BOSTON CELTICS, AND ALSO AS A COACH IN THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION, WHICH IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL.
