Tyronn Lue played 12 NBA seasons, but he never had the profile he has now as a world championship coach. Lue is 37-16 as Cavs head coach since taking over last January, including a 16-5 postseason run.
According to a report by ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Lue has not forgotten where he came from. With the Cavs off Saturday-Tuesday, Lue went home to Mexico, Missouri. He stayed on his feet during the trip.
"I have police officers back home give out food and turkeys to the community and to the kids around and to the families around the neighborhood, just so they can get related, so they can see each other, know each other on a first-name basis," Lue says.
Mexico is a town of 12,000 people about 40 miles outside of Columbia. Lue moved on, for the most part, from Mexico. He went to high school near Kansas City, played college basketball at Nebraska and made eight NBA stops with seven teams. Cleveland in his third franchise as a coach.
But after the August 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, roughly 115 miles east of Mexico, Lue says he "thought it was right" to commit to helping Mexico.
"Being broke and poor -- I mean, you grow up in the environment I grew up in, grew up hard and grew up poor," Lue says. "Your mom doesn't have a car until you make it to the NBA ... no telephone. So, I mean, if you grow up like that and you're able to make it to this level and be blessed the way I've been blessed, it's always great to give back. And having certain other people enjoy situations to the best of their ability ... I love doing it and I'll continue to do it."
It starts by interweaving the police and what McMenamin writes as, "the less privileged."
"It's a small town, too, so you know, people pretty much know each other and they know them (police)," Lue says. "I think it’s great to build that relationship and create that bond."
Lue organizes food and toy drives in Mexico for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. He produces a fireworks display in the summer and sends 360 kids to Six Flags St. Louis.
Back in Cleveland Monday, Lue stayed in the giving spirit. He was present at Quicken Loans Arena, serving 250 people on behalf of the Cavs. On Tuesday, Lue will again be distributing Thanksgiving food, this time in Ohio City at a Feed the Need event.
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