TORONTO: After 18 seasons in the NBA, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is now vilified in Israel.
He hates the circumstances of how he took over for David Blatt, a highly successful coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv who brought in Lue to be associate head coach/defensive coordinator last season. Lue said he’s spoken to Blatt three or four times since Blatt was fired by the Cavs on Jan. 22. Because their relationship remains strong and Blatt supports him, Lue said, “I’m at peace.”
But a former point guard on two Los Angeles Lakers championship teams, Lue prides himself on the reputation he built playing for 11 seasons before surprising himself and taking a job under the Boston Celtics’ Doc Rivers in 2009.