Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue has missed the team’s last six games due to lingering health issues that have plagued him all season. However, the gradual process toward officially getting him back on the bench will begin with the Cavaliers’ Friday night home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Cavaliers coach Ty Lue is planning to rejoin team vs. Pelicans in Cleveland today — as an observer, league sources tell ESPN. He won’t coach game. The plan will be to ease his way back into coaching over Cavs’ four-game homestand, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 30, 2018
Lue left the March 17 game at Chicago because of health concerns and was given an indefinite leave of absence two days later by the team in order to deal with issues that have included chest pains and sleeplessness. The in-game departure marked the third time this season that Lue has been unable to finish coaching a game. During his time away, assistant coach Larry Drew has replaced Lue and has led the team to win five of those six contests.
Counting Friday night’s clash, the Cavaliers have seven games remaining in their regular season. The expectation is that Lue will return before the playoffs begin in two weeks, with the Cavs’ first-round opponent still uncertain at the present time.
