LA Clippers sign Ty Lue to 5-year contract extension worth a reported $70M
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Clippers are going all-in on head coach Tyronn Lue.
On Wednesday morning, the Clippers confirmed they signed Lue to a long-term contract extension.
"T Lue is everything we want in a head coach. He’s a brilliant tactician and natural leader with an extraordinary ability to connect with those around him, both players and staff. Four years ago, we felt privileged to hire T Lue, and we feel just as fortunate today. There’s no one we’d rather coach our team. T Lue is a pillar of the organization and will be for a very long time," Clippers president of basketball operations, Lawrence Frank, said in a press release.
"This is where I want to be. I’ve loved coaching this team for the past four seasons and I’m excited to head into a new era at Intuit Dome," Lue added. "We have all the advantages we need to win in the present and the future, and I’m confident we will."
ESPN reported the deal would make him one of the league’s highest-paid coaches. Law Murray and Shams Charania reported Lue and the Clippers reached a five-year contract worth nearly $70 million.
As a reference, Mike Budenholzer recently signed a five-year deal estimated to be around $50 million as the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
While the Clippers confirmed Lue would be the franchise's head coach for the foreseeable future, details of the agreement were not disclosed.
There was some speculation around the league that Lue could coach his former team, the LA Lakers, once his contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 season. Now, those rumors can be put to rest once and for all.
LA's other team continues their coaching search after Darvin Ham was let go after two seasons.
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In his four seasons with the Clippers, Lue has a 184-134 record. That marks the sixth-best in the NBA in that stretch, data from ESPN showed.
The reported move comes after the Clippers once again failed to meet expectations and had an early playoff exit. This season, they were eliminated in the first round despite having three out of four healthy future Hall of Famers on the roster.
After the team's disappointing first-round exit, Clippers' president Lawrence Frank told reporters they hope to bring back the "Big 3" of Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Paul George.
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In October 2022, Lue became the Clippers head coach after the front office parted ways with longtime coach, Doc Rivers.
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Lue is a three-time NBA champion, having won two NBA championships as a player and also as the coach of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.