All the excitement caused by Cleveland’s championship run and the late game, last-second heroics of King James has worn on Cavs coach Tyronn Lue.
When the Cavaliers meet the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year on Thursday night, the stress meters and pressure points will be boiling.
Lue, who had already stepped away from coaching the team in March due to health concerns, saying he had chest pains and was not getting sleep, now reveals to ESPN that he’s being treated for anxiety.
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The 41yearold Lue missed nine games to address his health problems. Cleveland went 81 while Lue was gone, but admits he came back prematurely from that leave.
“I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious,” Lue told ESPN. “Just anxiety and the medication I’m on is great. No more chest pains so everything’s been great.
“I think for the first time in my career 20 years I had a chance to focus on me. It wasn’t as bad as people thought it was. But I did have some chest pains for the last couple of years. And I was just trying to be able to get through it not knowing what was wrong with me,” Lue added.
The reality of Tyronn Lue’s health issues
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt tells us what he’s hearing about the health issues that have forced Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue to take a leave of absence.
Lue changed his diet and started taking medicine in efforts to improve his health.
“Hired a chef,” he said to ESPN. “Stopped drinking as many Shirley Temples. And stopped with the sweets and got back to taking care of myself. Now I feel great.”
Most importantly — on the advice of other coaches such as Golden State’s Steve Kerr— Lue is taking time to focus on his health as an African-American man over the age of 40.
“When you’re in this position, you’re in the NBA, and you have your family and your friends and everybody you want to take care of and make sure they’re comfortable, you kind of lose sight of yourself and what it takes for you,” Lue said. “So being able to do that and get sleep now regularly is great.”
Managing the LeBron James show and not getting a damn bit of credit for it can be a burden for any coach and my sources tell me that he wont be coaching much longer at this level. Something tells me that regardless of what happens in these NBA Finals, LeBron and Lue will depart from Cleveland after this season.
