Tyronn Lue’s initial reaction to being promoted to head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers probably wasn’t what you’d think it would be.
Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com detailed how Lue found out that the man he was working under, David Blatt, had been fired, and how he had been promoted to the top job. Lue was contacted by general manager David Griffin on January 22, and when told that Blatt had been fired, Lue’s response was rather blunt.
“This is f—– up, Griff,” Lue reportedly told his general manager.
Lue even tried to persuade Griffin to change his mind, spending a few minutes debating the decision, before Griffin finally asked him if he would take over.
“Yeah, I can f—ing lead this team,” Lue replied.
“I was like, ‘what the f—.’ That was my initial thought,” Lue told Haynes of his reaction. “I didn’t see it coming. I couldn’t believe it. But, you’re prepared because you’ve done the coaching interviews and you have your philosophies. But to fire the head coach and you take over the next day with no practice or anything and you have the Chicago Bulls coming in. It was overwhelming.”
Pretty much everyone involved in that decision now knows that it was the right one. Lue has helped lead the Cavaliers to new heights, and they can feel quite confident heading to the NBA Finals no matter who comes out of the West. It’s hard to imagine that being the case if Blatt was still in charge.
