The LA Clippers may lose their top assistant coach as reports say Ty Lue has his eye on the head coach job with the Brooklyn Nets.
Last summer, it seemed like Ty Lue was going to once again team up with LeBron James and become the new head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. When that didn’t happen he decided to reunite with his former boss Doc Rivers as an assistant for the LA Clippers.
It now seems like that reunion may be coming to an end in favor of another one with Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has reported that Lue is interested in the head coach position in Brooklyn, where he would team up with the former NBA Champion once again.
Lue was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the franchise’s only NBA title in 2016. The team, lead by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, famously came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the seven-game series.
After the Nets fired former head coach Kenny Atkinson, rumors swirled that Irving would prefer if Lue stepped into the head coach position in Brooklyn, now occupied by interim Jacque Vaughn. The two have a complicated history, as reports of friction between the pair during Irving’s final days in Cleveland are well known. If reports are correct, the two seem to have put the past behind them and are ready to reunite.
As things currently stand, Lue is coaching below his championship pedigree as a head coach in his assistant role with the Clippers. It only makes sense that one of the top available coaches would have their eye on one of the top available positions.
Lue would not only be reuniting with Irving, but would be getting the chance to coach superstar Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. Once healthy, the duo should make the team top competitors in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
While having an assistant with a championship pedigree like Lue’s on your bench is certainly an asset, Head Coach Doc Rivers is well set for quality assistant coaches with Sam Cassell and Rex Kalamian in the top offensive and defensive roles when Lue eventually leave to take the top job elsewhere.