There can be no downplaying the significance of Tyrone Lue signing with the Clippers as an assistant on the bench. The news, coming via a tweet from The Athletic’s Shams Charania yesterday, caps a week-long negotiation that solidifies head coach Doc Rivers’ staff and further underscores the franchise’s intent to go all in through the coming season. He joins Sam Cassell, Casey Hill, Armond Hill, Rex Kalamian, Brendan O’Connor, and John Welch in the sidelines. And while he may be the last on board, he figures to be an integral component of their projected march to the top.
That Rivers wanted Lue to be part of his inner circle was to be expected, and not simply because the development highlights yet another instance in which the Clippers managed to put one over their fellow Staples Center tenants. He and the former Cavaliers assistant have a relationship that goes way back to 2003, when the latter was on the Magic roster he coached to a 1-10 slate prior to being fired. More significantly, their new arrangement picks up from where they left off when they steered the Celtics’ direction together between 2011 and 2013.
And make no mistake: Lue is a critical addition to the Clippers. He hasn’t quite received enough recognition for engineering the only 1-3 comeback in Finals history if only because he had LeBron James to lean on. Yet, it’s precisely due to his experience dealing with the all-time great on an everyday basis — and under constant pressure to deliver — that he becomes invaluable to the cause of Los Angeles’ other NBA franchise. If they want to win the hearts and minds of denizens of La-La Land, they need to be better than the Lakers — and he’s key to them meeting their objective.
The irony, of course, is that the Lakers could have been Lue’s to direct. They went back and forth on terms of a deal they thought was all but done save for the dots on the Is and crosses on the Ts. Instead, they wound up breaking off talks after an impasse on the value and duration of his planned stint. The knowledge he could have shared in leading the Cavaliers to three straight Finals appearances and a title now becomes the Clippers.’ He’s back with the franchise he was part of five years ago, doing essentially the same thing, but, with ample reason, sporting far more ambitious goals.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
