Tyronn Lue on Saturday night left in the middle of a game due to illness for the third time this season and LeBron James expressed his support for the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach.
Lue stayed in the locker room after halftime due to the illness. At this point, there is much ambiguity as to what exactly has been going with him this season in that regard.
James said Lue’s health has affected the team at this season, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“I mean, he’s the captain of the ship, so absolutely,” James said. “We worry about his health, obviously. That’s way more important than this game of basketball. We know he’s been doing everything he needs to do to stay healthy. Take even more measures to get himself right. Everything that’s been going on with our year, it’s just another one.”
James added that the Cavaliers have, in a way, gotten used to Lue having to leave games due to illness because it has happened so frequently this season.
“It doesn’t catch us off-guard because he’s been dealing with it for so long now,” James said. “But any time he doesn’t come back to the bench, it’s just an alarm going off, obviously. Like I said, his health is more important. He’s not going to talk about it, so I don’t want to talk about it no more either. That’s just how he is, and I don’t want to get too much into it.”
Any time a player or coach has to leave a game because of an illness is cause for concern. But the fact that this has happened to Lue three times already this season is quite alarming.
Without knowing any further details, it’s difficult to speculate on what exactly can be wrong with him and if it is fixable. The only thing that really can be said is Lue’s health should be team’s priority, and it appears that is the case.
