Tyronn Lue Recalls Intense LeBron James Story From The 2016 Finals

Tyronn Lue coached LeBron James during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they had a specific relationship. Although LeBron and Lue seemed to be at odds, they had the perfect coach-player relationship. This duo won a championship in 2016. LeBron came back from 3-1 down against the Golden State Warriors. He will sure remember the 2016 Finals.

Joe Vardon of The Athletic has more details about Lue and his time as a coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron’s then-coach shared the most amazing story of Game 7 of the 2016 Finals. The king was pretty heated during halftime as Lue pushed him to be even better.

“You gotta guard Draymond Green, stop turning the ball over, be aggressive, shoot the ball, be aggressive,” Lue said. “And I walked into the coach’s office. And this is what everybody told me. He grabbed (Damon Jones) and said, ‘Man, your boy’s trippin.’ And D. Jones said, ‘I’ve been in the G League, I haven’t been here all year, but everything I read in the paper about how much you trust T. Lue, how much you love T. Lue as a coach, why not trust him now?’” 

Lue said LeBron had a similar sentiment for James Jones who agreed with Lue’s assessment. 

“And then he went out and dominated the second half,” Lue said. “After the game, ’Bron said to me, ‘You know how to push my buttons, don’t you?’”

Tue knew how to push LeBron’s buttons, but he actually did him a favor. If it wasn’t for his pushing, LeBron may have lost that game. That’s what coaches do. Push their superstars to play even better. LeBron doesn’t need an extra motivation, but a simple push can go a long way. That’s exactly what Lue did in 2016. He helped the team win a title.

LeBron has all the talent he needs to win, but he can always us some extra motivation. He won a title with the Cavaliers, and that was the team’s first title. LeBron is a Laker now, and his time in Cleveland was brought to an end two years ago.