NOW THAT basketball has become a religion in Ohio following Cleveland’s Game 7 victory over Golden State, it would be sacrilegious to leave out Tyronn Lue’s role in the crusade that brought the Cavaliers their first NBA title ever.
And yet blasphemy appeared to prevail minutes after the historic Finals at Oakland’s Oracle Arena on Monday night.
Nosy NBA fans everywhere sure did not miss the fact that Finals network telecaster ABC, without fail, sought out team megastar LeBron James and owner Dan Gilbert for the traditional main-men interviews, but forgot about coach Lue in a huge oversight.
Even James and Gilbert initially failed to salute the coach in the din of the evening witnessed by millions of basketball diehards worldwide.
That resulted in an empty storyline, one devoid of the most insightful assessment of a never-seen-before comeback that brought the Cavaliers back from the throes of defeat to the thrill of victory over the Warriors in a seven-game series that brought the first Larry O’Brien Trophy to the Ohio franchise.
“I don’t care,” Lue told reporters about the grievous broadcast mistake before the awarding ceremonies. It turned out Lue, who looked more like a fan than the coach of the new NBA champions, had been looking for family and friends himself, away from the glow of the TV lights.
It is not about him, it’s about the guys, Lue said to a TV sports panel. He also said the Cavaliers did not give up because they wanted to make history.
Lue said the world saw James’ greatness as a player and as a person and that he deserved to be Finals Most Valuable Player because nothing is given, everything is earned.
There is no leaving out Lue indeed because of what the former NBA journeyman who played for teams like the Los Angeles Lakers has achieved with Cleveland.
Reminded NBA.com: “No team ever had survived a 3-1 deficit to win the title—except Lue’s team. Nobody had ever so spoiled things for an opponent that had won 73 games in the regular season and 15 more in the playoffs—except Lue’s team. Only three Finals teams out of the 18 that tried ever had won Game 7 on the road, and none since 1978—until Lue’s team did it with their 93-89 victory.”
The 39-year-old became Cavaliers head coach in January when David Blatt was fired by a team that’s part of a league of owners and managers with split personalities, despite bringing Cleveland to the 2015 NBA Finals against the same Warriors in his first NBA season.
Blatt was let go although he had the Cavaliers in first place in the Eastern Conference midway into the season, a perfect spot for James, who hails from Akron, to work from in bringing home a championship he promised Northeastern Ohio two years ago.
Lue’s evolution from accidental coach to a winning tactician was dramatized by his selection to mentor the East All Stars, before leading the Cavaliers into the post season with 10 wins in a row, beating Hall of Famer Pat Riley’s record of nine to start a coaching career, observed NBA.com.