CLEVELAND — Three games into his tenure as an NBA head coach, Tyronn Lue received a major honor Wednesday.
The NBA announced that Lue will coach the East team in the All-Star Game.
The teams are led by the coaches with the best record in each conference after Jan. 31, but the unusual circumstance in this case is that the Cavaliers fired coach David Blatt on Friday even though the team was 30-11 at midseason.
Lue took over and lost his first game to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, then led Cleveland to wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
The 115-93 victory over Phoenix assured the Cavaliers (32-12) of owning the conference’s best record at the end of the month.
When he was hired, Lue lobbied for Blatt to be allowed to coach the All-Star Game, but the NBA ruled against that possibility.
NBA rules prevent coaches from leading an All-Star team in consecutive years, so the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, whose team has the second-best record in the West, will guide the West team instead of Steve Kerr, coach of the first-place Golden State Warriors. Kerr was the West team’s coach last year.