The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lue listens to sound advice from Warriors’ Kerr
Coach Tyronn Lue was back in the saddle on April 5 when the Cavaliers hosted the Washington Wizards, and in one way it was like he didn’t miss nine games because of health reasons.
Injuries hampered the Cavaliers when he stepped away in mid-March and are still an issue — different players, same problem.
Point guard George Hill was already out with a sprained ankle. Then Hill’s replacement, Jose Calderon, had to miss the game with the Wizards because of a pulled hamstring.
Lue decided to start Cedi Osman in Calderon’s spot against Washington. He could have gone with guard Jordan Clarkson. But that would have disrupted the flow of Clarkson coming off the bench and providing instant scoring.
Clarkson has played 25 games with the Cavaliers since being acquired from the Lakers at the trading deadline, all of them off the bench. He was averaging 13.3 points a game with the Cavs and was hitting on 40 percent of his 3s — 40 of 100 — heading into the game with the Wizards.
Dealing with injuries like the ones to Hill and Calderon and dealing with the massive makeover the lineup has undergone since the 2017 Finals ended is why Lue ignored the chest pains and lack of sleep that finally forced him to step away before the Cavaliers played Milwaukee on March 19. He wouldn’t have done it then if not for team owner Dan Gilbert and general manager Koby Altman insisting he get help.
“Yeah, they talked me into it,” Lue said after the morning shootaround at the team training facility in Independence. “I mean, we’ve been going through so much this season and this year with all the trades and the new guys coming in and guys being hurt, in and out of the lineup. I think throughout the course of the season, it would have been smart to probably do it earlier, but just going through so much as the leader of the team, I just couldn’t give that responsibility to (assistant coach Larry Drew) when we were in the midst of all the drama and all the stuff.
“I tried to fight through it as best as possible and then once the Chicago game happened (March 17 when Lue had to leave the bench in the middle of the game), I thought once they told me that and to sit back and think about it, it was the best thing to do.”
Lue changed his diet and is feeling better. He appeared more relaxed and rested than he had in weeks leading up to his forced vacation.
Sports are a tight fraternity. Players will get after each other on the court and opposing coaches might stretch boundaries to get an upper hand, but Lue said one of the first people outside of the Cavaliers organization to reach out to him was Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Lue and Kerr have bumped heads as coaches in the last three NBA Finals. They could be headed to a fourth despite what the current standings in their respective conferences say.
Lue said Kerr gave him valuable advice that has nothing to do with basketball strategy.
“He reached out to me first and we kind of continued to have dialogue,” Lue said. “(Kerr told me) just to take my time and it’s about your health first.
“(He said) we get so wrapped up in the game of basketball I think we kind of forget about everything else. This was the first time in 20 years where I really just had a chance to focus on me and get myself right and he reminded me of that. We forget about real life and it was the best advice I got so thank Steve for that.”
The advice line will be cut off if the Cavs and Warriors meet again in June.