This NBA season has not gone according to plan in Cleveland to this point. The Cavs have gone through multiple injuries to key pieces, a massive roster reshuffle and on top of that have to deal with the media circus that comes with having LeBron James entering free agency this summer.
Among the various issues and ailments that the Cavs have had to deal with is head coach Tyronn Lue dealing with an undisclosed illness. Lue left Saturday night’s game against the Bulls in the 2nd half, a game that the Cavaliers won 114-109, which was the third game this season that he’s had to leave for the locker room due to illness.
During the Saturday night postgame, James commented on the fact that Lue’s inability to come out for the second half of games does affect the team. James noted that when he doesn’t come back to the bench where the alarm bells start ringing for the players.
“I mean he’s the captain of the ship, so absolutely,” James said. “We worry about his health, obviously. That’s way more important than this game of basketball. We know he’s been doing everything he needs to do to stay healthy — (maybe he should) take even more measures to get himself right. Everything that’s been going on with our year, it’s just another one.
“But anytime he doesn’t come back to the bench, it’s just an alarm going off, obviously. Like I said, his health is more important. He’s not going to talk about it so I don’t want to talk about it no more either. That’s just how he is and I don’t want to get too much into it.”
As previously mentioned, it’s been that kind of season for the Cavaliers where anything and everything has seemingly gone wrong for them. The one constant on the team has been James himself, which is a further testament to his greatness, lifting the team to another playoff appearance.
That said, all eyes could and should be on Lue and the status of his health. Health issues with NBA coaches has been a problem this season with coaches besides Lue, and from all reports the Cavaliers head coach has been dealing with this for some time. The only thing one can hope for is that Lue clears this health-related hurdle eventually.
