Lowell Cohn: Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has good answers for the media; does he have answers for his team?

CLEVELAND - Once you see it, you never forget it.

June 6, 2001, Allen Iverson's 76ers vs. the Lakers. Game 1, NBA Finals. Iverson fakes out a player named Tyronn Lue who's guarding him, fakes poor Lue out of his you-know-what and sinks a jumper.

Lue falls down. To rub it in, to show Lue doesn't belong on the same court with him, Iverson steps over Lue's body in front of the Lakers bench. Iverson doesn't step around Lue. Nothing like that. Iverson walks over Lue's stomach like Lue is a dead dog or a discarded hot-dog wrapper. This is the most famous - notorious - moment of Lue's playing career.

And now prone Lue, walked-over Lue is coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. His team trails 2-1 and almost certainly will not win this series. But when the Cavs seemed out of it, down 2-0 to the Warriors, Lue outcoached Steve Kerr in Game 3 and dragged his team back into the series. Don't be sore at me for saying Lue outcoached Kerr in one game.

Lue was a mostly unknown assistant coach for the Cavs until Cleveland fired David Blatt in January. So, Lue hasn't been in charge for long. The Blatt-for-Lue exchange was strange considering Blatt got the Cavs to the Finals last season and won two games against the Warriors without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

But the players seem to like Lue better, which probably means LeBron James likes Lue better. More on that in a moment. Blatt is now coaching in Turkey and Lue isn't. Lue had a good reputation on every staff he worked on. He is a mixture of carefree and stern, the right mixture. The Steve Kerr mixture.

He is low key in the media sessions here, not entirely comfortable. One local journalist told me the Cavs have not tutored him in working with the media - Blatt was a natural. Lue is a small-town guy from a place called Mexico, Missouri. I swear.

He faces a monster decision right now. A make-or-break-his-reputation decision. The Kevin Love Decision. Love didn't play Game 3 because of a concussion. Cleveland won that game starting Richard Jefferson at small forward and moving James to power forward. Smart move. Decisive move. The Cavs played great defense on Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, something they had not done with slow-footed Love in the starting lineup.

Hard for Lue to tell megastar Love he won't start if he's cleared to play. But Lue should tell Love he won't start. Kerr doesn't hesitate from making roster moves that hurt players' feelings. He's a players' coach but he's more of a winning coach. Lue needs to think like a winning coach.

Big moment for Lue. As you'd expect, journalists grilled him on the Love Connection. See how Lue handled himself.

Will Lue start Love if he can play?

“Haven't thought about it yet,” Lue fibbed. “Trying to get Kevin healthy is the most important thing.”

The journalists didn't stop there - we're annoying people. Someone phrased the question a different way: Would Love be comfortable coming off the bench? Like Lue's a dope and couldn't see the journalist throwing him a curveball.

“I haven't thought about it yet,” Lue fibbed.

And finally, some rabble rouser said, “I want your statement on what you have to say to those people that think this Cavaliers team is better without Kevin Love.”

“I'm not giving a statement,” Lue said.

Which means Lue could handle himself just fine. Which means he won't tell the Warriors his plans. Which means he doesn't want trouble with Love for at least another day. Which means Love hasn't passed the concussion protocols and Lue can bide his time.

James came to the media room after Lue. I asked what makes Lue a good coach and why players like Lue. Here's James:

“He just brings a sense of calmness no matter the situation. Just like he came in here before Game 3 and told you guys we're not worried about being down 0-2. We're back on our home floor and we look forward to going out and playing our best basketball. When we have that from the general, we go out there and follow his command.

“He's one of the few coaches in our league that you can relate to because he has some of the same upbringing as some of us. Growing up in the inner city, single-parent household, being a statistic, so I can relate to him a lot. Just understanding how the odds are always built up against you growing up and you make it. So, at this point, everything else is kind of extra credit because you've already succeeded in life. You can relate to that as a player to a coach.”

Heck of a quote, right?

But another James quote was interesting or revealing or troubling. You judge.

Someone asked James if, because he matched up well against Draymond Green, he'd ask to guard Green in Game 4.

“Well, myself and Coach Lue, we talk a lot about game plan, and he has the last say-so,” James said. “And then it's for me to go relay it to the rest of the group and get those guys to buy in on what needs to be done.

“So, we have a lot of conversations throughout the whole year on what should we do and how we can be better as a ballclub, and he would give his last decision. Then it's for me to go and take it to the team and make sure they're prepared.”

LeBron James coaches the team? He relays Lue's game plan to the players? Are you kidding me?

This makes Lue and James partners. The arrangement certainly diminishes Lue's power, being so beholden to his star. Would Kerr ask Curry to teach the team or be his go-between with the palyers or help him write the game plan? Never.

Which brings us back to Iverson and Lue. Iverson walked over Lue's body just one time. James could be doing it every day.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.