Cavaliers News: Tyronn Lue Intends to Coach Team for 2018-19 Season

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said Friday he plans to return for the 2018-19 season after the Cavs were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 NBA Finals.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com noted Lue confirmed his intention to remain with the team. Lue also expanded on what was a difficult season that included a nine-game medical absence because of chest pains.

"I had some tough problems going on throughout the course of the season, and I probably could have folded myself, but I wasn't going to do that," he said. "I knew that even if I wasn't feeling a hundred percent that I had to get back for the playoffs. That's my time. That's my moment. I didn't want to put our coaches in that situation. I didn't want to put our players in that situation and I have to fight through it. That's what champions do. I gave everything I had."

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Last month, the 41-year-old former NBA point guard told ESPN's Rachel Nichols his treatment for anxiety helped calm the health concerns.

"I'm glad it wasn't anything serious," he said. "Just anxiety, and the medication I'm on is great. No more chest pains, so everything's been great."

Lue has led the Cavaliers to a 128-77 record in the regular season since taking over during the 2015-16 season after the firing of David Blatt.

He guided the organization to its first championship at the end of that debut campaign, and the Cavs won the Eastern Conference each of the last two years before falling to the Warriors in the Finals.

"I can always get better," Lue told reporters after Friday's loss. "But I know I'm a tough guy. I pride myself on that. But just, I'm hard on myself a lot of times, but I've got to realize I've only been coaching for two-and-a-half years, but it feels like 10 or 15. I can get better, and I'm going to get better."

He signed a five-year, $35 million contract extension with Cleveland in July 2016.

Meanwhile, the Cavs' future is heavily dependent on LeBron James, who can exercise a player option in his contract to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. If he leaves Cleveland for a second time, Lue could find himself coaching a team focused on a rebuild in the coming years.