Cavs coach opens up on anxiety
Lue details battle before Game 1, Love returns from concussion
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is being treated for anxiety, saying before Thursday night’s Game 1 of the NBA final that the pressure-packed playoffs bring him so much joy.
He also realizes there are many others dealing with challenges in life, so his story may help others.
Lue took a leave of absence on March 19 for health reasons and when he returned April 5 acknowledged he experienced “piercing” chest pains during two games this season.
“A lot of people are going through a lot of different things,” Lue said Thursday at Oracle Arena.
“Just being able to cope with it and understand that there’s a lot of different people that have reached out since yesterday, I guess, and told me they experienced some of the same things.”
The 41-year-old Lue said he has heard from many people offering support since his ESPN interview during which he revealed the anxiety, noting he didn’t intend to reveal so much.
“To be honest, I messed up,” Lue said. “I didn’t even really know I said it. The biggest thing is that I feel good and talking to my doctor one of my happy places is the playoffs. That’s a good thing. So I do feel great, though.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr reached out to Lue to offer support. Kerr missed time, including during last season’s championship run, because of debilitating complications from a pair of back surgeries after the 2015 title. Kerr said he spoke by phone and traded text messages with Lue.
“I just tried to share some of my experience when I was out last year,” Kerr said. “The main message was, you can’t allow what feels like the enormity of the job to interfere with your health and your recovery and whatever you need to do. I just told him the team will still be there when you get back. But sometimes I think in this job, because there is so much passion from the fan bases and because everybody wants to win so badly, it feels bigger than it really is. So just kind of a reminder that we’re playing a sport. Get better.”
Cleveland forward Kevin Love — who went public this season with his own battle with anxiety — was cleared to play Game 1 after passing concussion testing. Love was injured early in Game 6 of the Eastern final against Boston and was not able to play in Game 7 of that series. He travelled to California with the Cavaliers and was on the floor with them during practice Wednesday at Oracle Arena.
“His approach has been great the last couple of days,” Lue said. “I’m happy for him.”
While the Cavs were at full strength, Golden State forward Andre Iguodala remained out with a bone bruise in his left knee that sidelined him for the last four games of the Western final.
Kerr said he was pleased to see Love cleared for Game 1.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Kerr said. “I’m glad he’s playing. We want everybody playing, everybody healthy and out there competing.”
Later, NBA commissioner Adam Silver encouraged the Philadelphia 76ers to resolve an investigation into whether team president Bryan Colangelo used Twitter inappropriately, a story Silver acknowledged was not one he wants to be thinking about during the league’s championship series.
Silver said he has talked with 76ers officials after the story about five Twitter accounts and how they were used was broken by The Ringer this week.
“Here we are, Game 1 of the finals, it’s not necessarily something that we want to be talking about,” Silver said. “But it’s the reality of this league. And so I have no information beyond that, other than that investigation is underway ... Let’s find out what’s going on.”
The 76ers retained an independent law firm to determine if Colangelo used the Twitter accounts. The situation could overshadow Philly’s efforts this summer to land any of the top players who will be free agents — a list led by LeBron James, who’s appearing in the NBA final for the eighth consecutive year.