Jeff Van Gundy Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Van Gundy, Butler, Warriors, Durant

April 21st, 2025 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

If practice makes perfect, the Lakers should be in good shape for Game 2 of their first-round series against Minnesota. The Lakers had their best practice in months, coach JJ Redick said on Monday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Los Angeles lost by 22 points on Saturday. The Lakers will look to even the series on Tuesday.

“Hopefully, we can just right our wrongs,” guard Austin Reaves said. “We played bad, they shot the ball really well. They’re obviously a really good team that’s physical. We got to match that. Tomorrow it’ll be different story.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

How has Jeff Van Gundy impacted the Clippers as an assistant in his returning to coaching? He’s been a major reason why their defense was strong enough to make the postseason. “He loves us being aggressive, attacking the ball,” Clippers guard Kris Dunn told the Sporting News’ Stephen Noh. “We’re not playing back on our heels. We’re being the aggressor and trying to dictate the game.”
Jimmy Butler had a huge game as the Warriors grabbed a 1-0 series against the Rockets on Sunday night. Butler supplied 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. He scored six points in the last 1:43 to put the game away, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk notes. “He has that impact every game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of the team’s blockbuster midseason addition. “He calms things down. He’s very confident. He’s very poised. He always believes we’re going to win. Jimmy is — he’s one of the best players in the league, and that’s what the best players in the league do. It’s not just about scoring or stats. It’s about settling the game down, having the presence and the nature to compete and win games like this.”
The Rockets, despite their strong regular season record, have been subpar in the half-court in 2024/25. The Warriors believe they can win the series by preventing Houston from getting easy baskets, Anthony Slater of ESPN writes. “But we’ve got to recognize that we don’t need to take chances in this series,” Kerr said. “We need to be clean with our execution in transition. We don’t need to dribble through traffic. We don’t need to throw lob passes to try to get a dunk. We’ve gotta be rock solid. If we’re rock solid, smart and tough, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
If the Suns deal Kevin Durant this offseason, which veteran players could they try to acquire in return? Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic takes a look at 10 potential targets.

Nuggets Notes: Westbrook, Porter, Murray, Jokic

April 20th, 2025 at 11:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook haunted his former team on Saturday, hitting a clutch three-pointer late in regulation and making several game-changing defensive plays to close out an overtime win over the Clippers, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Westbrook, who was traded and waived last summer after spending the past season and a half in L.A., delivered 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the series opener while playing nearly 35 minutes off the bench.

“Russ is Russ,” interim coach David Adelman said. “Defensively he was absolutely incredible. He was playing free safety out there. I thought a lot of the reasons why the (Clippers’ 20) turnovers happened, even if it wasn’t him forcing it, just the way he was roaming around and impacting the game, it was great for us. Then offensively, a couple of times I thought he attacked, maybe we could have pulled it out and executed, but that’s what Russ does. He’s going to play in attack mode. I don’t think he’s going to change after 17 years. If he sees somebody in front of him one-on-one, he’s going to attack, and he made an enormous three in the fourth.”

The Clippers employed a common strategy against Westbrook, giving him plenty of room to shoot from the outside and shutting down his drives to the basket. He was only 5-of-17 for the game, but 10 of his points came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Westbrook didn’t want to comment on the Clippers’ approach to defending him, Shelburne adds, saying, “We can talk about that more when we take care of business.”

There’s more from Denver:

Westbrook’s expanded role came at the expense of Michael Porter Jr., who scored three points in a little more than 26 minutes and left the game for good early in the fourth quarter, per Luca Evans of The Denver Post. Adelman explained after the game that his closing lineup will always consist of the five “playing the best at that time,” which leads to questions about Porter’s role for the rest of the series. “I’m going to say it again, like I’ve said last week — if Mike comes out, and he plays, and he’s engaged defensively, he’s knocking down shots — Michael will be out there,” Adelman told reporters, “just like everybody else in that locker room.”
Jamal Murray was able to remain in Saturday’s game after a second quarter injury scare, Evans adds in a separate story. Murray landed awkwardly on his left leg while trying to defend a fast break and was unable to put much weight on it as he walked back to the bench. Although it seemed to affect him for the rest the game, the veteran guard still finished with 21 points and hit several key shots down the stretch.
Game 1 featured a slight controversy as Nikola Jokic tried to wrestle the ball away from Clippers lead assistant Jeff Van Gundy and trainer Jasen Powell during a late stoppage in play (Twitter video link), relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. L.A.’s coaching staff was considering a challenge, which wound up being unsuccessful. Durando recalls that Jokic had a similar incident involving Suns owner Mat Ishbia in the 2023 playoffs. “I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. … (Jokic) did what he needed to do to try to get the ball in fast,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But that’s smart. If a team has a chance to challenge, you want to get the ball in quickly. Tell our guys to do the same thing. But he is the best at it.”

Pacific Notes: Butler, Zubac, Lue, Van Gundy, LaVine, LeBron, Hachimura

March 20th, 2025 at 10:13pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. became one of the few top executives in recent history to trade for a former teammate when acquiring Jimmy Butler at this year’s deadline. Dunleavy, who played with Butler in Chicago, wasn’t deterred by the fact that some of the forward’s stints with prior teams had ended poorly, nor by Butler’s apparent willingness to hit free agency in 2025 (he wound up extending with the Warriors). Now, as NBA insider Jake Fischer writes, the move is paying dividends for surging Golden State.

“There’s nobody who could explain the intricacies of Jimmy Butler better than Mike Dunleavy,” a league source said to Fischer.

The Warriors knew they needed top-end talent, having reportedly pursued Lauri Markkanen and Paul George in the offseason and Kevin Durant at the deadline. In Butler, they acquired the impact player they sought. The Warriors are now 15-3 since the trade, and by extending Butler, they’re hoping to show him how much they value what he adds to the organization.

“This is a commitment to each other,” Dunleavy said. “I didn’t want this to be a temporary thing or a rental or anything like that. I think he feels the same way, on the backside of his career and doesn’t want to be jumping around.”

The Warriors signed Butler to a two-year, $110.9MM extension when he arrived in Golden State.

“I am wanted here,” Butler said. “I’m appreciated here. I’m grateful that [Dunleavy] saw what I could bring to this organization and this team.”

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The Clippers‘ confidence in Ivica Zubac continues to grow, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. Zubac is averaging career highs of 16.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game this season. He had a 28-point, 20-rebound game on Tuesday after having nearly recorded a triple-double (17 points, 14 boards and eight assists) on Sunday. “He’s doing a good job of taking his time, making the right pass and making the right play and so he’s only going to keep getting better,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “Give him credit for what he’s doing.”
Lue missed Tuesday’s game due to back pain, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner. He previously missed four of the past six Clippers‘ games due to the injury. Assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy also missed Tuesday’s game due to personal reasons.
Kings guard Zach LaVine was unavailable on Wednesday due to personal reasons, but was active for their Thursday matchup against the Bulls, K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network reports (Twitter link). He’s averaging 22.7 points per game on .527/.441/.894 splits in his first 18 outings with Sacramento.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said he’s “hopeful” both LeBron James and Rui Hachimura will be able to return this Saturday, according to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina (Twitter link). A report on Sunday indicated that James was expected to miss at least another week, so if he does indeed return on Saturday, he’d narrowly beat that timeline. Hachimura’s Saturday return seems more likely, since that original report suggested he would be able to come back within the week.

Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Curry, Green, Harden, DeRozan

December 6th, 2024 at 5:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green available on Thursday vs. Houston, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga had his best game so far this fall — his 33 points, seven rebounds, and 33 minutes were all season highs, and as Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, Kuminga played an important role in crunch time to help Golden State secure a hard-fought victory.

Kuminga’s role and playing time have been inconsistent this season, in part because the Warriors have such a deep rotation and head coach Steve Kerr has been adamant about starting a center next to Green. Kuminga, who has been in and out of the starting lineup, has been at his best when he’s played at power forward rather than at the three alongside Green and a center. Kuminga has been at the four in each of the Warriors’ past two games, starting next to Looney in the frontcourt with Green sidelined.

“The floor has been opened up a little bit the last couple games for JK,” Kerr said. “But can we get him out there more with Draymond, with Loon? But as a (power forward) like he’s been playing the last couple of nights. That’s really the key. We just have a lot of guys, so we have to sort through all this. But there’s no question we can do more of this.”

As Shams Charania said during a Friday appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today (Twitter video link), the Warriors continue to seek a star to complement Curry after missing out on Paul George and Lauri Markkanen over the offseason. The question, Charania says, is whether that star needs to be acquired externally or whether a current Warrior like Kuminga could still become that player.

“That relationship between Jonathan Kuminga and Steve Kerr is something that Warriors officials have been monitoring over the last year or so,” Charania said. “How he fits in when Stephen Curry and Draymond Green will be interesting to monitor.”

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The Warriors should get a chance on Friday to assess how to best use Kuminga with both Curry and Green available. According to Slater (Twitter link), both players are listed as probable to play vs. Minnesota. Curry was out on Thursday due to bilateral knee injury management, while Green missed back-to-back games with left calf tightness.
After spending a few years as a secondary offensive option in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, James Harden has been back in a featured role as the Clippers‘ offensive engine this fall — his usage rate of 30.3% is his highest mark since his last full season in Houston in 2019/20. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Insider link), Harden has been “almost universally” praised within the Clippers’ organization for his leadership and offensive impact, and sources close to the team have cited his bond with new assistant Jeff Van Gundy as an important factor in Harden’s day-to-day preparation. The Clippers guard is also dedicated to getting “the most sleep of his life” to stay sharp at age 35, Windhorst adds.
Within that same ESPN Insider story, Windhorst and Bontemps spoke to rival NBA executives who questioned DeMar DeRozan‘s fit with the Kings, pointing out that the veteran forward operates in the same areas of the court as De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis and “hasn’t driven winning” in San Antonio, Chicago, and Sacramento. While the Kings are off to a disappointing 10-13 start this season, it’s unclear whether the fit of the DeRozan/Fox/Sabonis trio is the issue. As Bontemps observes, the club has a +6.5 net rating in the trio’s 420 minutes on the court together.

Clippers Notes: Harden, The Wall, Van Gundy

October 24th, 2024 at 2:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers point guard James Harden recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Shams Charania of ESPN. The conversation covered a number of topics, including Paul George leaving for Philadelphia in free agency, Harden’s relationship with Kawhi Leonard, his on- and off-court role as a veteran leader, and his excitement for playing in the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, among others.

While the former league MVP acknowledges the Clips have a slimmer margin for error in 2024/25, particularly with Leonard sidelined with a knee injury, he says not worried about having an expanded offensive workload at 35 years old.

“I mean, first of all, I’m going to have a lot more opportunity, which is easy,” Harden said. “I’m a natural scorer. I’m a natural play-maker. So the last four years it was sacrifice and whatever, but not even just scoring and play-making, but leadership and finding other ways to win games is very important. That’s all that matters to this point.

“The numbers and things like that are going to happen, just because my usage rate is going to be high, I’ll be playing a lot. You got a high usage rate, the numbers are going to show, but it’s about actual details and being impactful obviously for the game and then for your teammates as well. So I feel like I get an opportunity at the highest level to show my teammates that I can be a leader in that aspect.”

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Harden had mixed results in his first game of the ’24/25 season. He recorded 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on Wednesday in L.A.’s overtime loss to Phoenix, but he attempted 28 shots and committed eight turnovers. “I’m so disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” Harden said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “That’s probably one of the most frustrating things I can think about, as far as tonight, just history in Inglewood, in Intuit Dome. The fans came out and showed out, but we just, we got the short end of the stick.” Head coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers are asking a lot of Harden until Leonard returns. “We need him to be special until Kawhi gets back,” Lue said.
“The Wall” — a steep section of fans behind the basket near the opposing team’s bench — made an impact in the fourth quarter last night, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Suns star Kevin Durant, who has converted 88.4% of his career free throws, missed two straight attempts in the fourth, while Devin Booker (87.0% career) made one of two. Both players were impressed by the section. “I think I experienced that [once before],” Durant said. “Oklahoma State has somewhat of an arena like that, obviously not that big. But to see something go straight up, and I always thought that was cool. The noise sounds a little different. It’s going to be a tough road environment for anyone who comes in here.”
Former Knicks and Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy was hired in the offseason to be Lue’s top assistant. Van Gundy, 62, has been tasked with leading the Clippers’ defense, according to Law Murray of The Athletic. “He’ll be the guy, make sure we set the tone, make sure we’re talking defensively,” Lue said of Van Gundy. “And we got to be a loud talk team. We got to talk our coverages, understanding what we’re doing. And JVG’s done a great job of setting the tone early on.”

Clippers Notes: Leonard, Powell, Bamba, Van Gundy

October 16th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ season opener is only a week away, and there’s very little clarity regarding Kawhi Leonard, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Leonard is still dealing with the right knee inflammation that knocked him out of the team’s first-round playoff series last spring and prevented him from playing in the Olympics. Coach Tyronn Lue has already confirmed that Leonard won’t be used during the preseason, but his status is murky beyond that.

“Continue to keep rehabbing, keep getting better and keep checking the boxes,” Lue responded when asked how the team is handling Leonard.

Beyond the Clippers’ need to get off to a good start in what figures to be an intense Western Conference playoff race, Leonard’s ongoing knee ailments raise concern about his future. This is the first season of his three-year, $152MM contract extension, and the team will need him on the court as much as possible to remain competitive after losing Paul George in free agency.

There’s more from Los Angeles:

After playing primarily off the bench since he joined the Clippers, Norman Powell is hoping to earn a starting role this season, Turner adds in the same piece. Lue talked about what the veteran swingman needs to do to become a full-time starter. “Be able to score the basketball. When you don’t, just taking the defensive challenge every night,” Lue said. “So being able to guard his position, being able to match up with guys. We talked about two years ago, we saw in the playoffs in Phoenix, like, taking the challenge defensively. He’s gotten a lot better. So just being able to guard guys every night, being able to switch, sometimes guard point guards when we need him too. He’s been phenomenal so far in this training camp.”
The team continues to hope that backup center Mohamed Bamba will be able to recover from his knee soreness in time to play next week, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Bamba said the pain is a result of the wear and tear from his six NBA seasons, and he doesn’t have an official timetable to return.
Assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy, who joined the Clippers’ staff this summer, has raised the team’s level of aggression on defense, observes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. L.A. had 20 steals and forced 29 turnovers in Monday’s win over Dallas.“The defensive coordinator usually has to kind of be the guy that’s the (bad guy) because you got to be tough, and you got to hold everybody accountable,” fellow assistant Brian Shaw said. “So sometimes when he’s being that we have to be the good cops to balance out, but it’s been good.”

Clippers Notes: Lue, Harden, Van Gundy, Kawhi, Training Camp

August 28th, 2024 at 9:25am CST by Luke Adams

Although he spent much of the summer focused on helping the U.S. national team win gold at the Paris Olympics as one of Steve Kerr‘s assistants, Tyronn Lue also found plenty of time to discuss the Clippers with Jeff Van Gundy, another Team USA staffer who will work under Lue in Los Angeles this season, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

According to Youngmisuk, Lue returned from France energized to begin the 2024/25 season and looking forward to the challenge of trying to guide the Clippers back to the postseason after losing a nine-time All-Star in free agency.

“When you lose a guy of Paul George‘s stature, instantly people (think), “Oh, they can’t win’ or ‘They’re not going to be competitive,'” Lue told Youngmisuk. “But that just challenges me even more. OK, people are counting us out or people don’t think we’re going to be good. That right there just gives me an extra dose of (motivation). I can’t wait to prove everybody wrong.”

Lue suggested that having a full offseason and training camp with former MVP James Harden will make a “huge difference” for the Clippers heading into the 2024/25 campaign. The team acquired Harden from the Sixers during the second week of the 2023/24 regular season last fall.

“Having to learn (how to best use him) on the fly was tough,” Lue said. “… What he’s shown us is that we can run a pick-and-roll … scoring the basketball, making plays for each other, making it easy for everybody to play.”

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Lue said the addition of Van Gundy to his staff will be “huge” for the team, per Youngmisuk. “He’s a basketball film rat,” the Clippers’ head coach said. “He’s calling me, asking me questions, offensively, defensively, all the different things about game 17 (of last season). I don’t remember that s–t. But he’s locked into all that.”
Lue also expressed confidence that Kawhi Leonard, who missed time at the end of last season and was removed from Team USA’s Olympic roster due to knee inflammation, will be good to go this fall. “I speak to him all the time,” Lue told Youngmisuk. “He’ll be ready for training camp. He’s feeling good and I know he’ll be ready for training camp.”
The Clippers are returning to Hawaii for training camp this October, the team announced on Tuesday (Twitter link via Law Murray of The Athletic). It will be the fifth time since 2017 that the team has held its fall training camp in the state. This year’s camp will take place at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawai’i campus and will conclude with an October 5 preseason game against the Warriors in Honolulu.
As Murray tweets, that matchup with Golden State in Hawaii will kick off a five-game preseason slate for the Clippers. The team will play the Nets in San Diego/Oceanside and the Trail Blazers in Seattle in addition to hosting a pair of games against Dallas and Sacramento at the brand-new Intuit Dome.
Michael Pina of The Ringer explains why he believes the Clippers can still be a force to be reckoned with in the West despite losing George and former MVP Russell Westbrook, whose exit Pina describes as “addition by subtraction.”

Atlantic Notes: Van Gundy, Brunson, Harden, George, Hartenstein, Raptors

June 20th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Jeff Van Gundy and the Celtics’ brass mutually agreed it would be better for him to become the lead assistant with the Clippers rather than taking a similar job with Boston, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

Van Gundy was a candidate to replace former associate head coach Charles Lee, who is leaving to coach the Hornets. But the Celtics were somewhat uneasy about the prospect of Van Gundy, a senior consultant for the organization, leapfrogging members of the coaching staff and getting the job. The Celtics are expected to hire Lee’s replacement from an in-house candidate, Himmelsbach adds.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Jalen Brunson is eligible for an extension this summer for a max of four years and $156MM. If he waits until next summer, Brunson would be eligible for a five-year, $270MM contract. Yet Ian Begley of SNY TV believes Brunson will be willing to listen to an extension offer from the Knicks this summer, which would give the front office more cap flexibility in future seasons.
Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein will get a big raise in free agency, but how much is he worth in the open market? The Athletic’s Fred Katz polled 16 front-office officials, with their answers ranging from $15MM to $22.5MM per season. The Knicks, who hold his Early Bird rights, can offer a maximum of four years and $72.5MM.
James Harden ripped Sixers top executive Daryl Morey last offseason, calling him a “liar” among other things, until he was traded to the Clippers. Could Harden’s contentious relationship with his former boss influence teammate Paul George‘s decision whether to stay put or sign with the Sixers? Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer explores that topic.
The Raptors have picks No. 19 and 31 in this year’s draft. The Athletic’s Eric Koreen looks at eight wings who might make sense in that draft range, including Colorado’s Tristan da Silva and Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman.

Stein’s Latest: Brown, Van Gundy, Coaching Carousel, More

June 19th, 2024 at 9:40pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Raptors are still determining how they plan to move forward with Bruce Brown‘s $23MM team option for 2024/25, NBA insider Marc Stein relays in his latest around-the-league notebook. The Pacers originally signed Brown to the two-year, $45MM deal last summer in a successful effort to poach him from Denver, then traded him as part of a package to acquire Pascal Siakam.

According to Stein, numerous teams expect the Raptors to pick up that option to help facilitate a trade further down the road.

Brown played in 67 games (44 starts) between the Pacers and Raptors last season, averaging 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists contest one year after helping Denver win the championship.

We have more from Stein:

Before joining Tyronn Lue‘s staff in Los Angeles as an assistant, Jeff Van Gundy was pursued by the New Zealand Breakers of Australia’s National Basketball League to be their head coach, Stein reports. The Breakers formally requested permission from the Celtics to interview Van Gundy, who spent the year as a special adviser in Boston’s basketball operations room, but were told he had another coaching opportunity lined up already (with the Clippers).
J.J. Redick is the overwhelming favorite to be hired as the Lakers‘ head coach, while James Borrego is still considered the frontrunner to get the Cavaliers‘ job, according to Stein. Though he cautions that anything can happen, as of Wednesday Stein expects those two positions to be filled by those candidates soon.
Jayson Tatum and Derrick White‘s contract extensions with the Celtics are viewed as inevitable, Stein writes. Tatum is eligible for a five-year, $315MM deal that would make him the highest-paid player in NBA history.
Klay Thompson is in Houston training with Team Bahamas ahead of Olympic qualifiers, but likely would never have been able to participate in the tournament due to the timing of the event (July 2-7). An unrestricted free agent with an injury history, Thompson — like other free agents — can’t officially sign a new contract until July 6, making any play before then an unnecessary risk. Even if he were willing to make that risk, Thompson likely wouldn’t have received clearance from USA Basketball anyways after the organization was criticized last year for allowing Eric Gordon to join the Bahamas, which won a pre-qualifying tournament, Stein writes.
Stein confirms reports that Atlanta has been unable to secure an in-person workout with Alexandre Sarr, increasing rumblings that the Hawks may select Zaccharie Risacher first overall.

Jeff Van Gundy Joins Clippers As Lead Assistant

June 18th, 2024 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

4:58pm: Van Gundy has officially joined Lue’s staff, according to an announcement from the team’s PR department.

6:24am: Jeff Van Gundy and the Clippers have agreed to a deal that will make him the lead assistant on head coach Tyronn Lue‘s staff, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Van Gundy’s last role as an assistant coach came from 1989-96 with the Knicks. He was promoted to the head coaching position in 1996 and led the team to a 248-172 (.590) regular season record over five full seasons and parts of two more, winning eight playoff series during that time and making the NBA Finals in 1999.

He later spent four years coaching the Rockets from 2003-07, compiling a 182-146 (.555) regular season record and earning three playoff berths, though Houston didn’t win a postseason series under Van Gundy.

A longtime broadcaster for ESPN following his coaching career, Van Gundy was let go by the network in 2023 and joined the Celtics as a senior consultant. He recently lauded the franchise for throwing him “a lifeline” following a tumultuous period in his personal life and enjoyed a memorable year in Boston, capped by the franchise’s 18th championship.

There was some speculation that Van Gundy could move to the sidelines for the Celtics next season as a member of Joe Mazzulla‘s staff, but a more recent report cited a role with the Clippers as a growing possibility. Head of basketball operations Lawrence Frank has reportedly long been an admirer of Van Gundy, and the team had a hole to fill on Lue’s staff after veteran assistant Dan Craig departed for a job with the Bulls.

Van Gundy’s relationship with Lue was also a factor in Los Angeles’ ability to hire him, Wojnarowski notes. The two coaches have worked together with Team USA.