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As has been reported, Tyronn Lue is stepping away from the Cavaliers for a temporary leave of absence as he deals with an undiagnosed health issue causing chest pain and trouble sleeping.
TNT’s David Aldridge is now reporting that we could see him back in as soon as a week.
Tyronn Lue will be on a one-week plan to address his health issues, per source. The current plan is to return to the bench next week.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) March 19, 2018
This has been something Lue has battled with all season, and players have been aware of his struggles to get healthy. Via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
Players (like James) and people close to Lue have been aware of Lue’s condition for months. He resisted stepping away from the Cavs at various points during the season, dating to as early as November and December when the team won 18 of 19, and again in January when the team was struggling mightily.
This is important information for any who may want to speculate that Lue’s absence has more to do with recent Cavaliers struggles than his actual health, insensitive as that speculation may be. This is clearly a season-long issue for Lue, and it’s dogged him when things were going well and when things looked their worst on the court for the Cavaliers.
LeBron James said that the leave is “long overdue” via Cleveland.com, but just had found out about the leave before shootaround on Monday.
Ultimately, the Cavs aren’t at their best without Tyronn Lue, but health takes first priority. Lue has been dealing with this for some time now, and ideally he’ll be able to get on a regimen that will at least ease his symptoms in the short.