Clippers' Steve Ballmer Praises Ty Lue: 'We Had to Get the Best of the Best'

Los Angeles Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer is excited about his team's future under new head coach Tyronn Lue.

"We had to get the best of the best. The best of the best is Ty Lue," Ballmer said Wednesday, per Mark Medina of USA Today.

Lue spent the past year as an assistant for the Clippers under head coach Doc Rivers, whom the team fired after a disappointing second-round exit. Los Angeles was up 3-1 on the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals but lost three straight games and was eliminated.

The Clippers have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine years but haven't reached the conference finals.

Ballmer clearly has more faith in Lue, who led LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018. Lue also helped the team win a championship in 2016 during his first season as a head coach.

His experience and familiarity with his players could be enough to get the team over the top in 2020-21.