CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached a long-term contract extension with head coach Tyronn Lue, general manager David Griffin confirmed on Tuesday.
Reports of an agreement were confirmed by WKYC’s Dave Chudowsky on Monday night, and The Vertical cited sources saying the contract was worth $35 million over five years.
“Ty took over our team under very trying circumstances and his calm, confident approach was invaluable as we found our way to success,” Griffin said in a release announcing the extension. “His vision, leadership and tactical acumen were fundamental to us reaching our goals. We couldn’t be happier to have Ty continue to lead our group into the future.”
Once the highest-paid assistant coach in the NBA, Lue was offered a deal after taking over for David Blatt in mid-January, but elected to not sign the contract. Instead, Lue focused on the task at hand and led the Cavaliers to their first-ever league championship.
The 2015-2016 season was one full of ups and downs for the Cavaliers, but through it all, they found ways of responding to adversity on the way to winning the franchise’s first NBA Championship with a 93-89 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of The Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, last month.
“The opportunity to continue coaching the Cavaliers and this very special group of players is tremendous,” Lue said in the release. “I am extremely appreciative of the effort and commitment that Dan Gilbert, Jeff Cohen, Nate Forbes, and David Griffin showed in extending my contract.
“Cleveland fans are the best in sports and I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this very special community. I am focused on helping this organization continue to grow and look forward to more success for our team and our fans.”
Center Tristan Thompson said Lue’s calm, collected approach proved to be a key factor in the Cavaliers’ ability to be the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in The Finals to win the league championship.
“He kept his composure, and it starts from the top,” Thompson said after the championship win. “The head of the snake is obviously T. Lue and LeBron and Kyrie. They kept their composure. As the other guys, your best players are still locked in and still know that this series is not over yet. For us other guys, we still feel good and we know that we've just got to take care of business to put ourselves in position to win and continue onto a series.”
Down 3-1 after a Game 4 loss to the Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena, Lue told the Cavaliers before their flight to Oakland for an elimination game not to take the trip if the players felt they could not win the NBA Championship.
Not only did the players get on the plane, but they brought home a victory and followed it up with a Game 6 win that forced a deciding Game 7.
“It's the first team to four wins, and guys believed in each other,” Thompson said. “We were down 3-1. You guys heard T. Lue and LeBron saying, ‘We've got to fly back to Cleveland, so might as well fly back with a win and keep the series going.’”
And keep the series going the Cavaliers did, as they withstood several late runs from the Warriors, only to have point guard Kyrie Irving hit a pull-up fade-away three-pointer from the right wing over the two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry with just 53 seconds left in regulation.
Then, despite taking an awkward fall after being fouled while attempting a dunk and remaining on the ground for several moments, Finals MVP LeBron James iced the championship victory by splitting a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
