Tyronn Lue is considered one of the frontrunners to land the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coaching job now that Luke Walton is out, but there are apparently some executives with the team who are not in favor of bringing Lue in. Why? Because they are leery of pairing him with LeBron James.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported this week that there is a “buzz circulating in coaching circles” that Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams has a better chance at landing the Lakers job than Lue. The reason for that is that some Lakers executives fear hiring Lue would give LeBron “too much control.”
In other words, not everyone in the Lakers’ front office is on board with bringing in one of LeBron’s guys. Lue, who won a title with James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, clearly has the respect of LeBron. There were reports during that 2016 title run that Lue was able to help the Cavs gel by asserting authority over James, but some LA execs may not buy into that or view it as a situation they want to recreate with their team.
We have all seen what can happen when LeBron and his coach don’t get along, and there’s a line of thinking that the Lakers could essentially allow him to fill the position with whomever he pleases. While James will almost certainly have some input, the Lakers may be split on how much influence they want him to have.
