In his interview for the head coaching position this week, Ty Lue appears to have made quite the impression on the Lakers. As reported by Brad Turner of the L.A. Times, Lue left a “lasting impression” on the Lakers brass.
During Lue’s interview session at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo on Wednesday, a lasting impression was left on both parties involved in the discussions, according to the people.
Lue, who played for the Lakers and won two NBA titles with them in 2000 and 2001, was sincere about wanting the job, the people said. He showed them offensive sets and defensive scheme during his conversations with the group.
Even more, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on that Lue had reached out to Tom Thibodeau as a potential lead assistant coach on his staff.
While it appears Thibodeau is uninterested in rejoining the ranks as an assistant coach, the ambition showed in reaching out to him by Lue makes him all the more intriguing candidate.
As the one of the three candidates with the most experience as opposed to Monty Williams and Juwan Howard, Lue had already separated himself from the group in that regard. Lue is the only one of those three candidates to win a championship and has the most experience in coaching LeBron James.
Those things appear to have not gone unnoticed for the Lakers contingent that met with him at the team’s practice facility. Along with owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka, co-owners and front office executives Joey Buss and Jesse Buss, chief operating officer Tim Harris, director of special projects Linda Rambis and senior advisor Kurt Rambis all joined in on the interview.
For now, it appears Lue is the frontrunner for the job barring any other unforeseen changes in the coaching market. If these reports are any indication, it could be a potentially great hire for the Lakers.
