When the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to fire David Blatt and replace him with Tyronn Lue, one man was not happy — Tyronn Lue. Lue initially told general manager David Griffin that the decision was “f—– up,” and elaborated on his feelings more recently.
“I was like, ‘what the f—.’ That was my initial thought,” Lue said, via Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. “I didn’t see it coming. I couldn’t believe it. But, you’re prepared because you’ve done the coaching interviews and you have your philosophies. But to fire the head coach and you take over the next day with no practice or anything and you have the Chicago Bulls coming in. It was overwhelming.”
Lue also told Haynes that he “pleaded with Griffin” to reconsider his decision. Obviously, that did not happen. Whether the move can be deemed a success remains to be seen.
Cleveland finished the regular season at 27-14 under Lue’s watch, but were 30-11 under Blatt. They’re obviously in the Finals, but it’s completely reasonable to believe that they would have been in a similar position under Blatt, given that he took them to the finals in 2015.
Lue has certainly done well enough to say that the move was not a complete bust. But for the move to be deemed a complete success, Lue will have to lead the Cavs to a championship at some point.