The Philadelphia 76ers should hire the coach with a championship resume.
It appears that the Philadelphia 76ers head coaching search is about to heat up. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Sixers are beginning their second round of interviews with top candidates, including Billy Donovan, Mike D’Antoni, and Tyronn Lue. While all three candidates present strong reputations with deep playoff experience, there is one clear choice for the job, and that is Ty Lue.
Many Sixers fans likely remember Ty Lue from “The Stepover” in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. However, there is a strong chance that the man who was mocked by the Sixers fanbase for nearly two decades is about to become the team’s head coach. Lue has been the reported frontrunner for the Sixers job since before Brett Brown was even fired. And while the Sixers have made more than their fair share of mistakes over the last few years, this would not be one.
Of the three most speculated candidates for the job, Ty Lue is the only coach with a championship pedigree. Yes, he had LeBron James. But virtually every head coach that’s ever won a championship has had an all-time player. No one questions Phil Jackson for winning with Jordan, Shaq and Kobe. Nor do they question Erik Spolestra for winning with LeBron and Wade. Now, is Ty Lue on the level of Jackson or Spolestra? Of course not. Very few coaches in NBA history are. However, the point remains. Bad coaches don’t win NBA championships.
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Ty Lue has two very important qualities that would make him a great fit for this current Sixers roster, and particularly Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The first one is his ability to hold players accountable without being overbearing. This has been an obvious issue for the Sixers at the end of the Brett Brown era. Brown, while a good basketball coach, struggled mightily to challenge Embiid and Simmons. However, there is a fine line between Brett Brown and Jim Boylen. Ty Lue is that fine line. Part of the reason he was so successful in Cleveland was because he wasn’t afraid to challenge LeBron and Kyrie Irving. Former Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins provided a great inside look from halftime of Game 7 of the 2016 Finals to prove this point:
"“Stop being so passive!” the coach barked. “Stop turning the ball over! And guard Draymond!” James’s numbers looked fine—12 points, seven rebounds, five assists—but he had unleashed a few sloppy passes and Draymond Green, his primary assignment, was 5 for 5 from three-point range. “Bron was mad, pissed off at me, and then we went into the locker room at halftime and I told him the same thing in front of all the guys,” Lue recalls. “He was mad again, pissed off again.”"
If Ty Lue wasn’t afraid of challenging arguably the greatest player of all time, at halftime of Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the team with the best regular season record of all time, he won’t be afraid of challenging Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. And while he will certainly push players, he is beloved by them. Listen to any of his former players in Cleveland talk about Lue. He would be perfect for Philadelphia.
The second quality that Lue possesses that would mesh well with the Sixers core is his willingness to experiment throughout the regular season. This is also something that Brett Brown struggled with during his final year in Philadelphia. Ty Lue was incredibly willing to experiment during his time in Cleveland, whether it was with rotations or his offensive and defensive schemes. It led to his teams having some bumpy stretches during the grind of the regular season, but they were ready for the playoffs every single year. By the time the playoffs rolled around, Lue knew what worked and what didn’t. That’s something that the Sixers have never had the luxury of knowing during that time of year.
The case for Lue is strong. Along with being a good basketball coach, he is a perfect hit with the Sixers roster and organization. He is the best coach to maximize the talent of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. He certainly won’t fix all of the Sixers issues, but it is a good shot. Elton Brand and whoever else has power should do whatever it takes to land Lue.