Give Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue this: He isn’t afraid to mix it up with his best players.
Including LeBron James.
From ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst:
Tyronn Lue’s first statement as Cleveland Cavaliers coach appears to have been quietly made.
Two weeks ago, Lue pulled LeBron James aside and, in so many words, told him to knock off the funny business and focus on the basketball.
It came after James’ cryptic social media behavior, on-court fraternization with Dwyane Wade and off-court comments about teaming up with Wade and Carmelo Anthony and not, you know, his current teammates.
Only James and Lue know exactly how this message was relayed, but it has become clear that it was received.
This, by all appearances, suggests that Lue is succeeding where his predecessor, David Blatt, never could. Blatt was seldom critical of James, and you never heard stories of this genre, wherein Blatt would discipline his franchise cornerstone for, say, unacceptable postgame comments.
Holding James accountable for the things he says and tweets is not a bad thing. Yes, some of what he’s done on Twitter, along with his comments about teaming up with Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, have been blown out of proportion. And sure, he is a flight risk this summer, if only because he has the power of opting out and testing free agency.
But the Cavaliers cannot create an atmosphere in which everything James does, whether it’s ultimately significant or completely negligible, goes unaddressed. That Lue is willing to make these statements is huge.
That LeBron is, per Windhorst, taking them to heart, is even better.
