LeBron James Reflects on Lakers Win, Praises Clippers' Ty Lue Getting 'S--t' Right

LeBron James' current head coach, Darvin Ham, may be on the hot seat, but that didn't stop him from praising a former coach Sunday night.

James went out of his way to compliment Ty Lue for turning around the Los Angeles Clippers' season after the Lakers' win over their rival at Crypto.com Arena.

"Nah, it's the T-Lue Clippers," James said when a reporter initially described them as "James Harden's Clippers." "I know T-Lue very well. It don't take T-Lue long to make sure s--t get right. It took him five games, and they've been cooking since."

Lue coached James with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018, winning the 2016 NBA championship. James famously pushed the Lakers to hire Lue in 2019 and the two sides got close to an agreement before the deal fell through. The Clippers hired Lue as an assistant the same year and promoted him to head coach in 2020.

The Lakers, meanwhile, are on their third coach since James' arrival in 2018 and could soon be on their fourth. Ham has become increasingly embattled during a recent stretch of dispiriting play, with players and fans becoming frustrated about his inconsistent rotations.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported player agents have been contacting the Lakers front office to complain about their clients' roles.

"There's a lot of chatter from people around the organization that he's not the guy that's going to be able to get this thing over the hump. ... The noise is very loud. There are a lot of people very frustrated. A lot of agents calling the front office frustrated about their guys not getting the right opportunities," Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said on No Cap Room (24:45 mark).

Even after a win over a surging Clippers team, James offered tepid praise for his team given its recent play.

"Try to use this to try to catapult a little bit better play from us," James said of what he hopes happens after Sunday night. "But it still doesn't take away from the fact of how we've been playing like the last 11, 12 games. Tonight was a good start. Hopefully we can start from here and continue to build."

While James was not directly comparing the two coaches, it is noteworthy that he'd go out of his way to compliment Lue—the guy he wanted to have the job years ago—at a time when his own team and coach are under fire.