The Brooklyn Nets are searching for a new head coach as Tyronn Lue’s name is being heavily mentioned in the rumor mill these days.
The Brooklyn Nets and Kenny Atkinson unceremoniously parted ways in March after multiple disagreements on different philosophies. That has naturally linked the Nets to Kyrie Irving‘s former head coach, Tyronn Lue.
One box that the now Clippers assistant coach checks in Brooklyn’s coaching search? Championship experience.
Lue was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers when they came back from being down 3-1 against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. Lue has also won two rings in his playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 and 2001.
Lue got a strong endorsement from former Net Richard Jefferson, who was also part of the championship-winning Cavs team. While Lue was better known as a coach who can handle the egos of star players such as Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love, Jefferson made sure to completely dispel the notion that he couldn’t put the X’s and O’s together as well.
"“That’s stupid. That’s a dumb statement,” Jefferson said. “T-Lue and Gregg Popovich are the two best X’s and O’s coaches that I’ve played for in my entire basketball career. From high school all the way up until I retired.”"
The fact that Jefferson mentioned Gregg Popovich and Tyronn Lue in the same sentence. Wow. That is some extremely high praise.
On the surface of things, Lue seems like a great candidate given how he was able to coach superstar talent in the most intense games of the season and deal with the adversity of being down 3-1 in the Finals.
However, there are conflicting reports about how Irving either wants or doesn’t want Lue in the fold.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports first reported that Irving preferred Lue to take over as Nets head coach.
According to Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, however, Irving’s camp flat-out denied that rumor.
Lue also didn’t set the warmest impression on Irving when he first came in, and Kyrie didn’t like Lue at all, as explained by Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
"“When Ty took the job, the first things he did was he took shots privately and publicly at Kyrie and Kevin [Love], basically telling them, ‘You have to put your brands to the side, defer to LeBron, focus on winning,'” Vardon said."
Irving may not have always gotten along with all of his coaches, but if it’s true that there are still bad feelings between Irving and Lue, then it makes no sense for the Nets to hire the former point guard as their new head coach. The Nets decided to go the superstar route, so their main focus has to be hiring a coach that will mesh well with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. That’s the most important thing.