The Cavaliers announced that Ty Lue will be stepping away to deal with health issues. Associate head coach Larry Drew will be taking over in his absence.
Things just keep getting tougher in Cleveland. After having to leave three different games this season because of illness, Ty Lue has decided to take a leave of absence from the Cavaliers to deal with recurring health issues. Associate head coach Larry Drew will be taking over while he is away from the team.
The Cavaliers are currently holding the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference but have been up and down since blowing up their roster at the trade deadline. They will have their work cut out for them to finish the regular season strongly and prepare for a deep playoff run. Luckily Drew is a coach with plenty of experience.
Drew has been an associate head coach for the Cavaliers for the past two seasons, and an assistant coach for the two seasons prior to that. He also has 18 additional seasons of assistant coaching experience with the Lakers, Nets, Pistons, Wizards, and Hawks. Drew also spent four seasons as an NBA head coach — the first three with the Hawks, the last with the Milwaukee Bucks — from 2010-2014.
Drew was fired by Milwaukee after a 15-67 season but he amassed a 128-102 record in his three seasons in Atlanta, including leading the team to a first round playoff series win over the Orlando Magic in 2011. He also played 714 regular season and 31 playoff games during a 10-year NBA career.
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Drew will have his work cut out for him but he’s been with the team for the entirety of LeBron’s second tenure with the Cavaliers and he has plenty of experience up and down NBA benches. Considering the dire nature of this situation, Cleveland could certainly be a lot worse off.