Ty Lue to Give Luke Walton Advice on LeBron James; He 'Made My Life Easy'

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said he plans to speak with Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton and associate head coach Brian Shaw about his experiences coaching LeBron James.

Coaching James was never an issue for Lue, as he told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times:

"I'll just tell them LeBron's easy. People get this whole thing built up like he's hard to coach. It's not. LeBron's not the problem. It's the outside tension that's the problem. Just put added pressure immediately on the coaches, on his teammates. Now everything you do is under a microscope... So it's going to be a totally different change for the Lakers. They'll be able to handle it."

"LeBron is easy to play with, very unselfish. LeBron can bring guys along, make sure they're doing the right thing. It's going to be good. The outside is what you've gotta be able to block out."

The Cavaliers' Cedi Osman expressed similar sentiments: 

James, 33, spent the past four seasons with Lue, who served as the Cavaliers' associate head coach between 2014 through 2015 before taking over as head coach in January 2016. James carried the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals this past season for the fourth straight time, averaging 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists during the regular season while playing in every game.

He was somehow even better in the postseason, averaging 34.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists while playing 41.9 minutes per game.

The stats continue to amaze, but Lue noted that one of James' strengths was his flexibility and willingness to try new things on the court.

"He'll try anything once," Lue said. "If it don't work, he might be like, you know. But overall it was great. He made my job, made my life easy. Turned me into a championship coach."

James agreed to terms with the Lakers this past offseason, giving the team its first superstar since Kobe Bryant retired. That will offer a new challenge for Walton and his coaching staff, who to this point have been tasked with guiding young players such as Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma as the team rebuilt through the draft.

But Lue believes James will make things easy on those coaches, much as he did in Cleveland.

"Everybody he's touched is made better," Lue noted. "Family, friends, organizations, the city of Cleveland, his players, his coaches. He made everybody's life easier, everybody's better. It's tough to lose that type of piece. It was hard to swallow."