This will be a big summer for LeBron James, and it could dictate how the remainder of his career plays out. For starters, he is set to represent the United States at the Summer Olympics in Paris, which will give him a chance to win his third Olympic gold medal.
More importantly, he can opt out of the last year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and become a free agent this summer. While plenty of people expect him to remain with them on a new contract, it will give him the opportunity to use his leverage and wield his power.
There is always the chance James pressures the Lakers to not only fire head coach Darvin Ham but also hire someone he prefers. One Eastern Conference executive believes that if James had his way, he’d have Ty Lue coaching him while remaining on the Lakers (h/t Lakers Daily).
Via Heavy Sports:
“If it was all up to LeBron, he’d have Ty Lue as his coach and he would do that with the Lakers,” the executive told Heavy Sports. “That’s his guy. Out of all the coaches LeBron has ever had, the one he singles out is Ty. Now he is in a position where he has free-agency on his side and he can maybe force the team to do something to get his guy if he gets fired.
“I think LeBron has a reputation for pulling strings and dictating moves, and that gets way overblown. Anyone who has worked with him will say, he is easy to work with. He has opinions and he will let you know and, really, you’d be crazy not to ask him his opinion. But he is not a puppet master like some people think.
“But if Ty Lue is available, I’d be really shocked if he did not push the Lakers to get him.”
Lue, of course, coached James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA championship in 2016. It was arguably the finest moment of James’ career, as his Cavs overcame a 3-1 series deficit to defeat a Golden State Warriors team that had won a league-record 73 games during the regular season.
The problem for him is that Lue is currently under contract for a Los Angeles Clippers team that is tied at 2-2 with the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. His contract runs through the end of next season.
However, a year ago, there were rumors that Lue was thinking of leaving the Clippers. If they flame out yet again early in the playoffs, those rumors could circulate again.
Lue was a backup point guard in the NBA for 11 seasons. He started his playing career with the Lakers during the 1999 season, and he won two world titles in 2000 and 2001 while playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal and the late Kobe Bryant.
