Earlier this month, one sportsbook pegged former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue as the favorite to be the Los Angeles Lakers head coach at the start of the 2019-20 season.
It appears that a potential reunion between Lue and LeBron James is one step closer to happening.
On Friday, the Lakers announced that they've parted ways with head coach Luke Walton -- a move that was largely expected around the league. And it didn't take long for ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski to report that Lue is a "strong frontrunner" for the job, with Philadelphia 76ers assistant Monty Williams also mentioned as a potential candidate.
Aside from his connection to James, who he coached in Cleveland from 2014-18, the link between Lue and the Lakers is a natural one. The Mexico, Missouri, native spent the first three seasons of his NBA career in Los Angeles, winning NBA championships with the Lakers in 2000 and 2001.
Following the conclusion of his 12-year playing career, Lue entered the coaching ranks, spending time as an assistant on Doc Rivers' staffs with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers. In 2014 -- the same year James returned to Cleveland -- Lue joined David Blatt's staff with the Cavs and ultimately became the team's head coach following Blatt's firing in 2016.
Over the course of four seasons with the Cavs, Lue led the team to a 128-83 regular season record, 41-20 postseason record, three consecutive NBA Finals and won the first championship in franchise history in 2016. After Lue was fired following the Cavs' 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season, James spoke fondly of his former head coach.
"I had three-and-a-half great years with Coach Lue and that team that we were able to put together," James told reporters. "He put us in position to win, he put us in position to succeed and more importantly, he gave all the onus on the players. He gave us the responsibility to go out and do what we needed to do to win ball games. And that led us to, while he was at the helm, three Eastern Conference Finals, three [NBA] Finals, one championship. I got nothing but good stuff to talk about with T. Lue."
After signing James as a free agent last summer, the Lakers are coming off of a disappointing 37-45 season. Earlier this week, Magic Johnson resigned as the team's President of Basketball Operations, with former Cavs general manager David Griffin having been linked as a potential replacement.
