A pairing that once seemed inevitable between the Los Angeles Lakers and former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue broke down rapidly after the Lakers seemingly did everything in their power to make Lue turn the job down. L.A. reportedly offered Lue a three-year deal instead of the five-year contract he was seeking, the same amount of years the Lakers handed out to their previous coach, Luke Walton. Lue also reportedly took issue with the Lakers insistence in picking members of his staff, including wanting to add Jason Kidd to the bench despite Kidd interviewing for the very job Lue would now be taking.
With Lue officially out the picture, the Lakers’ options are dwindling. Names like Lionel Hollins, Mike Woodson and Frank Vogel have surfaced as the next wave of candidates, a far cry from getting to pick between Monty Williams and Lue. As the Lakers’ reputation worsens by the day, Chauncey Billups took some time during Thursday night’s “NBA Countdown” to express his disgust with how one of the league’s preeminent franchises have devolved into an embarrassment.
“The disrespect is unbelievable that they’ve given to Ty Lue,” Billups said. “He’s a championship coach. This is an organization with 16 championships. You would think that they would value a champion. But to offer this dude three years, when you’re just coming off offering Luke (Walton) five? And to try and pick his staff? You didn’t pick Luke’s staff. It’s disrespectful.”
As the Lakers move into year two with LeBron James, the organization looks to be nearing rock bottom from a reputation standpoint. Los Angeles has egg on its face for how things have gone down recently, and while it’s possible they make a good hire, the way things went down with Lue looks to have left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths.
