The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Lue wants to follow Rivers as voice for change
Tyronn Lue is ready to follow in Doc Rivers’ footsteps. That has nothing to do with coaching the Los Angeles Clippers.
He wants to be a voice for change.
Rivers has been one of Lue’s most trusted mentors for years, and his teaching point in these times has been clear. Rivers isn’t going to coach forever. Neither is Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, another of the NBA’s strongest coaching voices. Someone is eventually going to have to fill their roles as two of the go-to speakers in the league, as champions for change, and Rivers wants Lue to step up to be that someone.
“He needs me to be that next voice for the Black coaches coming up through the NBA,” Lue said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Doc is great. Any time there’s a crisis or anything gets bad for our country, he’s always a spokesperson for the NBA. Him and Pop. ... And Doc told me: ‘Ty, you have to be that next one. You have to be the one to step to the forefront, protect the Black coaches, and speak out for the Black coaches.’”
Lue’s primary mission as coach of the Clippers — as Rivers’ replacement — is clear. He’s tasked with being the coach who finally gets the franchise to the Western Conference finals and beyond, who finds away to take a teamthat has spent most of its existence as a punchline and makes it a champion.
That should be daunting enough.
But in these times, as one of only six Black coaches in the NBA, a league in which most of the players are Black and most of the coaches are white, Lue knows more is required. That’s why the
NBA spent three months at Walt Disney World, to stand on a platform that would amplify voices urging an end to racial inequality and police brutality in this country. Rivers, as the Clippers’ coach during their time in the bubble, was moved to tears at times when he spoke of the problems that ail this na
tion. Lue, like most assistant coaches, didn’t have much of a media footprint in the bubble; assistants are seen and rarely heard.
In this role, he vows, that will change.
“That’s what I’m going to fight for being in this position,” Lue said. “Or just having more Black head coaches and more assistant coaches and guys will be able to get the chance and opportunity to show their greatness. And, with 80% of the league being Black and African American, Black coaches can relate to these guys. It helps these guys that come from single-parent homes and growing up in the situations that they grew up in. Being able to talk and relate to these guys is very important.”
Lue’s hiring by the Clippers — it got done last week, was finalized Tuesday and he was formally introduced Wednesday — is another step in the right direction for the NBA. The league was down to four Black coaches at one point this offseason; Rivers’ hiring in Philadelphia and Lue’s hiring with the Clippers has the total back up to six.
When this season’s playoffs started, it was eight. A few years ago, Black coaches held a then-record 14 NBA jobs.