Lakers Rumors: Some Feared Ty Lue HC Hire Would Give LeBron James Too Much Power

The Los Angeles Lakers are moving toward making ex-Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue an offer to assume the same position in L.A., according to a Friday report by Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

While Lue looks like the Lakers' future leader, the New York Times' Marc Stein reported Tuesday that not everyone in L.A. was on the same page about bringing him to the team because of his relationship with star forward LeBron James:

"Lue was not the unanimous favorite to replace Walton among the Lakers’ many decision-makers in the wake of Magic Johnson’s abrupt April 9 resignation. He was indeed favored over [Philadelphia 76ers assistant head coach Monty Williams], but there were some nagging fears among a minority of the team’s power brokers—as mentioned here previously—that hiring LeBron’s former Cleveland Cavaliers coach would be giving James too much control in Lakerland."

Lue coached James as an associate or head coach from 2014-18 when they were both in Cleveland.

The two get along quite well, with James sending this message to Lue after the coach was fired following the Cavs' 0-6 start in 2018-19:

Wojnarowski also reported that Lue is James' top choice for the Lakers' head coaching job.

Even if there are questions surrounding James' potential power internally, hiring the ex-Cavs leader is a smart move.

Stein explained the reasoning best in a tweet last Wednesday:

And Jalen Rose of ESPN wondered why the Lakers hadn't hired Lue already, calling him the "best person for the job" at the 3:17 mark:

Hiring a coach who has proved he works well with James and gets the best out of him is the best bet. The Twitter consensus and jokes may support the notion that Lue would in essence be an assistant to LeBron, but they have won an NBA title together.

Kurt Streeter's ESPN The Magazine piece from December 2016 discussed the Lue-James relationship in detail, and Streeter noted how Lue challenged James at halftime of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

"LeBron, what's wrong with your body language? Your body language is terrible," Lue said. "You got to guard Draymond [Green]. You got to take the open shot. Quit turning the ball over. Fix your body language. Anything else you want me to tell you?"

The Cavs, who were down 49-42 at half, won 93-89 to give Cleveland its first professional sports title since the Browns in 1964.

The Lakers have a lot of work to do before reaching the NBA's promised land, but hiring Lue would be a good start even if there are concerns regarding James' power.