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David Liam Kyle/NBAE via GettyImages
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue has been fired, several sources reported early this Sunday. Cavs players were informed of the move, reports the Athletic's Shams Charania, after the team started the season with six straight losses, including back-to-back blowout home defeats to the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Larry Drew will serve as the interim head coach, as management held a meeting with him after the decision to let Lue go was made.
Lue started working with the Cavaliers organization back in June 2014, a time when he was among the top candidates for the vacant head coaching position in Cleveland. The Cavs eventually hired David Blatt as the head coach, but made Lue an associate head coach and the highest-paid assistant coach in the league at the time. After only one year and a half, the front office fired Blatt and Lue was immediately promoted as the new head coach. That same season, the Cavaliers won the first championship in franchise history under Lue after coming back from a 3 - 1 deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals.
After LeBron James' departure this past offseason, the Cavs' downfall is no surprise; the team often struggled during the short periods James rested on the bench. Lue and James hold a close relationship that reportedly helped the former get to the Cavs' coaching staff in the first place, and the King shared a special message via Twitter after the news of his dismissal broke out: "T Lue thanks for the memories and more importantly our partnership bringing a [championship] to that deserved city/fan base. U know how to find me."