His job as coach of the Clippers has demanded that Tyronn Lue be more than that at times. His job this season has called upon Lue to be more of a teacher.
This is because of six new players on the roster. Also because he has six players 25 years old or younger.
After spending about a week in Hawaii for training camp and playing a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers returned home for a practice Monday at Intuit Dome.
For Lue, it has been a time of excitement and a time for him to lean into being a teacher.
“I love it,” Lue said. “It gives me something to do. The young guys, just teaching. The new guys, teaching, understanding spacing, understanding how to execute offensively, what we’re looking for first, second, third option. So, it’s been good.”
Lue’s youngest player is Cam Christie, a 19-year-old guard the Clippers plucked out of Minnesota in the second round of the draft. Kobe Brown, 24 and in his second season, is still learning.
Read more: Kawhi Leonard plans on playing in Clippers’ season opener
It’s young players such as these that Lue relishes showing the way during training camp and in the preseason games — the Clippers will play the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.
“The biggest thing is me,” Lue said. “I think just making sure I’m not going too fast, going too slow. Make sure they understand the concepts before we move on to the next stage. And so, that’s on me to make sure we do that. We put in a lot of stuff the last few days, so hopefully they can grasp that. If not, we just slow down and continue to come in before shooting around before practices so they can get up to speed.”
When Lue throws schemes at his team, he has to make sure the new players understand.
They acquired players such as Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Kevin Porter Jr. and Mo Bamba to fill roles around Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
“If they are not getting it, I just can’t keep at them if they don’t get it,” Lue said. “So, just make sure I pull back if they’re not getting it, make sure we come in an hour before practice, work on it, and they’ve been doing a good job with that.”
It is a different role for Lue, considering he was in charge of the oldest roster in the NBA last season, with an average age of 30.4. His four future Hall of Famers — Leonard (33), Paul George (34), Harden (35) and Russell Westbrook (35) — were all over 32 last season.
He didn’t have to teach as much with that veteran group.
Yet the Clippers knew Lue was up to the task, which is why they made him one of the highest paid coaches in the NBA at $14 million per season.
“Yeah, whatever it takes, you know, and so whatever personnel we have, we gotta make sure our staff makes sure that our offense and our defense fits our personnel,” Lue said. “It can’t be the same thing and this is gonna be my system no matter who plays for us. You know, it’s gotta be different depending on who you got on the floor. And so that’s what we’re good at.”
Lue was asked what kind of teacher is he — one with or without patience?
“No, I have patience,” Lue said smiling. “You gotta have patience with a group. You can’t get frustrated, but the guys are picking stuff up very well. But I like to teach, make sure we’re in our right spots, let them understand why we’re doing certain things and why you got to set the screen here instead of there, why you gotta be here making the pass instead of there. So, it’s a lot of teaching, but it’s good.”
Lue reiterated that it was a “mutual agreement” between the Clippers and veteran forward P.J. Tucker for him to stay away from the team until another situation can be worked out for him.
Tucker, who opted into his $11.5-million contract, is apart from the Clippers for the second time since he arrived from the 76ers last season in a trade with Harden.
Tucker, 39, along with Bones Hyland, was sent home by the Clippers one game before last season’s All-Star break.
“P.J. was great for us,” Lue said. “I think it was great for our young guys. We just came to a mutual agreement, so you know? It’s not a good day, but you know, it is what it is.”
Lue said “yessir” when asked if Leonard, who is dealing with inflammation in his right knee, was still strengthening his knee while the team practiced. … Lue said Terance Mann will start against the Nets.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
