Tyronn Lue Reportedly Tapped By LA Clippers To Become Next Head Coach

The Los Angeles Clippers may have found their next head coach following their divorce from Doc Rivers after seven seasons at the helm. Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the team and Rivers’ lead assistant last season, longtime NBA fixture Tyronn Lue, have come to terms on a five-year deal to move the 43-year-old to the first spot on the Clippers’ bench.

Former Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups will reportedly join him as an assistant, provided he doesn’t become the next coach of the Indiana Pacers.

In multiple ways, Lue may have been the ideal candidate for the Clippers, who are firmly in win-now mode with multi-time All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading one of the association’s most talented rosters. As a member of the club’s previous staff, he has a high level of familiarity with its players, and he reportedly received significant support from them as Los Angeles conducted its search process, according to Wojnarowski.

Moreover, he’s a proven winner, having directed another star-laden squad to an NBA championship just a few, short years ago. Prior to officially joining the Clippers in 2019, Lue coached a Cleveland Cavaliers team led by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to the franchise’s first (and only) championship during the 2015-16 campaign.

He would help the Cavs reach two additional NBA Finals and compiled a 120-83 record over parts of four seasons with the club. However, after James and Irving moved on, Cleveland transitioned to a full-scale rebuild, and Lue was ultimately fired just six games into the 2018-19 campaign.

In addition to his vast experience on the sidelines, Lue also enjoyed a lengthy career in the association as a player. He first entered the league with the Los Angeles Lakers in the late ’90s, capturing two championships with the club before joining the Washington Wizards. The diminutive floor general would play for five other teams during his career, including a four-year run with the Atlanta Hawks, before calling it quits in 2009.

Over 11 seasons and 554 career games, Lue put up 8.5 points and 3.1 assists per contest, per Basketball-Reference.

Lue takes over a Clippers team that was one of the league’s elite squads during the 2019-20 season, finishing with a 49-23 record and a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. However, Los Angeles disappointed in the league’s Orlando, Florida, bubble, surrendering a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets during the conference semifinal round and ultimately getting eliminated from postseason play after a lackluster effort in Game 7.

As shared previously by The Inquisitr, Lue had been in consideration for a number of head coaching positions in recent months.