There is only one head coach in the history of the NBA who has led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a championship: Tyronn Lue. The franchise achieved basketball immortality almost a decade ago now in 2016, and Lue patrolled the sidelines for Cleveland at that time.
Fast forward to current day, and one NBA legend thinks it would be in the Cavaliers’ interest to bring Lue back in the fold. Amid Cleveland’s underwhelming start to the 2025-26 campaign — the team is currently the No. 8 seed in the East — Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce said that Lue should return to the franchise.
“You know who could use T-Lue?” Pierce began. “… He need to go back to Cleveland ’cause the Cleveland team is looking underachieving right now.”
It was mentioned that the Cavaliers won more than 60 games last season, which Pierce responded to.
“Yeah, but they not on that pace this year,” he said, which led to him being reminded that current Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson won Coach of the Year last season. “… We’re talking about this year. I’m just saying, you bring in a championship coach now to get ’em over the hump, like when Detroit brought in Larry Brown.”
Currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, Lue has been in the league’s coaching ranks for well over a decade now, and his experience coaching teams deep into the playoffs could come in handy for a Cavaliers squad that’s floundered in the playoffs in the last few years. Cleveland hasn’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs with star guard Donovan Mitchell, who came over in the 2022 offseason.
The 48-year-old is someone who a number of Cavaliers fans would likely welcome back with open arms as well considering all he accomplished during his previous stint as their head coach.
However, it can’t be ignored that the team has a head coach who’s only months removed from winning the league’s Coach of the Year award. Atkinson earned the hardware in his maiden season with the Cavaliers after he coached them to 64 victories in the 2024-25 campaign, and Cleveland would risk jumping the gun by removing him not even halfway into his second season as head coach.
In addition, with Lue not even being available for hire right now, it would take a turn of events for him to somehow land with the Cavs.
The Cavaliers should probably give Atkinson more time to rectify things in Cleveland before they seriously consider bringing in a more experienced coach to succeed him. After all, it’s possible that in a month or a few weeks from now, Cavaliers fans will have a whole lot more to cheer about.