David Blatt could hate Tyronn Lue. He could see him as part of the reason why he lost his job with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He could resent him, despise him, ignore him, wholly refusing to acknowledge his existence, save for the occasionally subtle swipe at his character.
Lue, after all, was Blatt’s assistant, and one he did not ask for. He was well paid. He had a strong voice. He mattered. And when Blatt’s time in Cleveland went to shit, the Cavaliers immediately signed him to a new deal.
But Blatt and Lue aren’t odds. They are actually…cool. Per Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com:
“Look, they ridiculed Jesus Christ, so I’m certainly no exception,” Lue told cleveland.com in an exclusive interview. “I don’t care what’s being said. I know how loyal I was to Coach Blatt and the people that know me understand that. I have no control over what people think. I have a job to do and I’m going to do my best.”
…
“Me and Blatt are cool,” Lue said to cleveland.com. “We’ve spoken a few times since [he was let go]. I text him a few days ago, so it’s not what people want to think. To say I was doing things behind the scenes to get this job is crazy. This job? A team that’s in first place? Come on.
“As long as Coach Blatt supports me, that’s all that matters.”
Lue has a point. And besides, reports quickly surfaced after Blatt’s firing that Lue was a loyal assistant through and through. He found a way to balance his relationship with Blatt and his ties to the Cavaliers players, many of whom weren’t fully in support of their head coach.
Is there an undermining theme to the way Lue was installed?
Most definitely.
But any monkey business, it seems, has more to do with the Cleveland organization, and most likely LeBron James, than it does with Lue himself.
