CLEVELAND — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue returned Monday to the city he once toured amid a championship parade wanting a win, not a tribute video of past memories. He got the latter, not the former.
Since his firing in 2018, a fall day when Lue and his friends holed up at a lakeshore house and processed the news, he had never been fully feted for his role coaching the 2016 NBA champions, because his returns had come as an assistant and, last year, in front of a pandemic-restricted crowd. His potential reception Monday, finally, in front of a nearly full Rocket Mortgage Field House had not been on his mind, Lue said before tipoff. Most likely he was consumed with how exactly the Clippers would score with two starters resting on the second night of back-to-back games.
But when his moment arrived between the first and second quarters and the Cavaliers played a long video extolling the championship team, the coach didn’t ignore it. Lue waved when the jumbotron showed his face before Cavaliers forward Kevin Love wrapped him in a hug.
