Cavs coach Lue agrees new deal
McCollum signs 4-yr extension
WASHINGTON, July 26, (Agencies): The Cleveland Cavaliers and head coach Tyronn Lue have agreed on a new fiveyear deal worth $35 million, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Monday.
Lue, 39, took over after David Blatt was fired in January and led the Cavs to the NBA title in his first head coaching role. The rookie coach was praised for having a good relationship with LeBron James, who had clashed with Blatt prior to his termination.
After compiling a 27-14 record down the stretch in the regular season the Cavs caught fire in the playoffs, sweeping Detroit and Atlanta, before beating Toronto in six games and rallying from a 3-1 deficit to stun Golden State in the Finals.
Lue had not signed a contract as a head coach and was working on a four-year deal worth $6.5 million as Blatt’s top assistant. Negotiations began following their championship triumph.
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum signed a four-year, $106 million extension.
McCollum, 24, was the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2015-16, averaging 20.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in his first season in an expanded role after LaMarcus Aldridge departed before the season as a free agent.
WNBA President Lisa Borders says she hopes that rescinding the fines the league imposed over black warmup shirts worn in solidarity for shooting victims will lead to a fresh start on social activism for the players and their union.
“I would tell you in reflection, recognizing that we were at an impasse, we needed to move forward in the future,” she said Monday in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “In order to do that, stop what you’re doing currently, take a breath and re-engage. Rescinding the fines allowed us to do that, along with the Olympic break.”
It had been a tense week for the WNBA and its players after the league decided to impose $500 fines on three teams for wearing the black warmup shirts in response to recent shootings by and against police officers, saying the shirts were a uniform violation. The fines seemed to galvanize the players, who used postgame interview sessions and social media to voice their displeasure. There also was public criticism of the fines, including from NBA star Carmelo Anthony. The league announced Saturday that the fines had been withdrawn.
“When we came to this decision most recently we realized it was a very complex issue,” Borders said. “There was no right way to deal with it. We had a traditional response to a nontraditional situation. Our players wanted to lift their voices on the court as well as off the court.”
The players were happy that the league had changed course and rescinded the fines.
“Because of this and how we were able to communicate as players, that’s really
BASKETBALL
important,” said Tamika Catchings, who is president of the players’ association. “That’s a great thing.
We’ve gotten players more engaged with the union and on social issues. Now I feel because of this, it brought our players home and more together and more focused on our voice and what we collectively stand for.”
Although the league is on a break until the end of August, Borders said conversations have renewed between the WNBA and its players. They will talk a lot during the monthlong Olympic break.
“If we all work together, we’ll make some incremental progress,” she said. “No one has dealt with this before in this format or this forum. We’ll get some things right and some things wrong.”
Borders said rescinding the fines had already been in the works and was decided on Friday, hours before the Rev Al Sharpton and his organization, the National Action Network, said they would pay the fines.