"The Lakers cost themselves a couple years of productivity" - Stephen A. Smith believes LA Lakers messed up by not hiring Ty Lue
After having a successful run as a player, Ty Lue has done even better for himself as a coach. One analyst even said that he is the NBA's best head coach right now.
Ty Lue played his final NBA season in 2009, then quickly entered the world of coaching. In 2011, he joined the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach under Doc Rivers.
When Rivers was traded from the Celtics to the LA Clippers, Lue made the trip with him. However, he left after a year to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as a head coach.
Since the 2015 season, Lue has won a championship with LeBron James in Cleveland and eventually made his way back to the Clippers as head coach. As the Clippers' coach, Lue has a record of 133-103 and is 11-9 in the playoffs.
Right now, the Clippers are fresh off a 115-110 Game 1 win against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Following their victory, Stephen A. Smith said Lue is the best coach in the league on ESPN's "First Take."
"There is no debating that Lue is the best coach in all of basketball. ... The Lakers cost themselves a couple of years of productivity by not hiring him outright," Smith said. "They should have never let him get to the Clippers."
"There's no debating that Ty Lue might be the best coach in all of basketball. Ty Lue is big time. And I'll go a step further: The Lakers cost themselves a couple years of productivity by not hiring him outright."
🗣️ Stephen A. Smith
https://t.co/GORQlxAhAV
Is Ty Lue the best coach in basketball right now?
It's hard to pick just one because there are so many brilliant head coaches in the NBA right now, but Ty Lue certainly belongs in the conversation. What he's done throughout his career has been nothing short of impressive.
For starters, he was a part of history during his 2016 NBA Finals victory with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some might discredit him because LeBron James was on the roster, but he is the only coach in history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.
Since joining the LA Clippers, Lue has proven he is one of the best when it comes to the chess match that is the postseason. His ability to adapt on the fly to exploit mismatches is what puts him among the top coaches in the league. One of the primary examples is when he exploited Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert by running small-ball lineups that forced him to defend away from the rim.
Even though he only has one finals to his name right now, there's no denying that Lue is among the best head coaches of this generation.