NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS

June 30, 2021

Tyronn Lue

LA Clippers

Game 6: Postgame

Phoenix Suns 130, Los Angeles Clippers 103

Q. At the end of a five-week run what were you thinking about as you stood out on the court, looking out at the crowd?

TYRONN LUE: First of all, I want to say thank you to the fans. I mean, they were unbelievable throughout this whole journey. We were able to get a packed house. It was great. Those fans showed the players the love and support they showed them at the end, even though we lost the game. It just says a lot about our fan base, what the team meant to the city and it was great to see.

Also just want to say I'm proud of our guys. Been through a lot this season, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of injuries, and our guys stayed the course. We did something special this year, even though we didn't complete what we wanted to complete. I thought we did a great job of just doing something special, doing something this franchise has never done before. And like I said, I want to thank Mr. Ballmer, Lawrence Frank, Mark Hughes, Trent Redden, the whole Clippers organization for giving me an opportunity to do that.

And like I told our guys in the locker room, I love those guys. I'll go to war with them any time. Just proud of them even though we came up short, and it was a great run despite everything we had to go through.

Q. Anything in the last five weeks that’s going to stick with you from the playoff run, just the ups and downs and the comebacks?

TYRONN LUE: I just think our team, just like Reggie talked about earlier, all the different people and all the different thought processes and everybody just different people to come together. Boogie late in the season, Armando late in the season, guys going down, in and out.

But being down 0-2 against Dallas, fighting back and competing to win that series. Being down 0-2 against Utah, doing the same thing, and our team showed a lot of character. We're down. We can easily give up and give in. But we just stick with the game plan, don't point fingers, we stay together, and that was just good for me to see that this year.

When I think back to this season, I’ll think back to the playoff run we had, and being down in the series both those first two and fighting back and winning those, and you know, what we did this year was special.

Q. Reggie was just emotional in here, being brought to tears. What was it like, what's the emotions? You guys come back from so many deficits, is it almost like a shock that it is now over?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, it is a shock. I think it's a shock to a lot of guys in that locker room. It just tells you a lot about the team. Like no matter who is playing, we still feel like every night we have a chance to win no matter who is on the floor. I thought we ran out of gas, you know, and first thing goes when you get tired and fatigued is mentally. That first half, we made a lot of mistakes defensively, a lot of mistakes coming out of time-outs or just play calls in general, just not there mentally. That right there let's you know the guys are tired, and it's one of the first things that breaks down.

But hats off to Phoenix. They did a hell of a job. Monty Williams, one of the best coaches in this league and just the culture he set, bringing CP in, young team, having everyone buy into their role and what they want to do. CP was fantastic tonight, 41 points, eight assists. Booker is a star already at a young age. They have a great foundation there with the coaches, James Jones, the job he's done with CP and Booker.

So congratulations to those guys. They played a hell of a series, and just go from there.

Q. What do you think this team has proven to people after how things ended in the bubble last year to how you played in the postseason?

TYRONN LUE: That's behind us. We talked about it all year, and I know all you guys are waiting until the playoffs to actually see that, but the thing that happened in the bubble, we lost. A lot of teams lose. You're not going to win every season. I think the biggest thing because we were up 3-1, that was a bigger deal. But I think if it was 2-2, 3-3 and we lose Game 7, then it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Denver is a great team. We see that.

I just think leaving the bubble, leaving it behind, coming into this season, adapting, got no excuses, Next man up mentality, team mentality. I think those guys got through a lot of tough times this season alone just because of that. We have a tough, gritty group, and sticking together and playing the way they played, things like this can happen. Hoping we can build off this going into next season.

Q. As far as advocating for yourself, you mentioned you thanked the front office for giving you this opportunity. How do you think you can build off what you have here?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, I don't know. I haven't really thought that far. I also want to thank my coaching staff who did an amazing job as well this season. There's so many I can't really name them because we got a thousand coaches and I don't want to leave any of them out, but our coaching staff was tremendous this year. Did a lot to help me out. Did a lot for the players. I think having a lot of structure this season was really good for us. Like I said, I just want to give a shout to our coaching staff because they did a hell of a job, as well.

Q. With all the injuries, is there any part of you that wonders, what if, considering how well you did, despite all that?

TYRONN LUE: Oh, yeah, you always think about it. But a lot of teams have gone through it in the past and gone through it this year, as well. Nothing you can really do about it. It's part of the game. You can think about it, what could have happened or what would have happened but you’ve just got to move on.

I think next next man up mentality doesn't mean that you don't care and miss those guys, but you have a mindset, we don't have them, and we have got to come out on the floor and produce anyway we can. All season long, all playoffs long, different guys stepped up and were huge for us, and that's the type of team you want to have. We'll come back at it next year and we'll see what happens, we can stay healthy, keep guys healthy and kind of go from there.

Q. Going into next year, you set the building blocks in place, how does this sort of create a building block into next season?

TYRONN LUE: I think, you know, I think just the season that we had, and being able to do something this organization has never done, and I think forgetting and getting rid of all that bubble talk and all that bubble stuff is over. To do what we did this year was very special.

When you lose Kawhi Leonard, you lose Zu, you lose Serge and PG to step up and play the way he did all playoffs, all season; Reggie Jackson, Pat Beverley, our whole team, everybody chipped in, Marcus Morris.

Just thinking about that and finally getting to a position and place that we've never been before as an organization, it means a lot to the guys in the locker room, even though we want to do more, and we're going to do more.

But just taking that next step of erasing the bubble, the talk of can we perform, can we get to the next step and those guys have done that. Not happy that we finished short but we are happy with what we've been able to accomplish this season. So just keep building off the next one.

Q. Is this the process that you wanted?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, it was. The process was definitely what I wanted and all of our guys being able to step up, and it was tough at times, and on me, as well. T-Mann playing the five, Nico playing the five, move Pat Beverley to the two; you know, they don't know all the plays but we just find a way to win and we keep scrapping, keep competing and whatever we got to do to win, we do it. That's the makeup of a good team, a good, tough, gritty team, and that's what we are. Guys been in that position all year long, and with the injuries we had, we just had to do what we had to do, and they did that.

Q. Can you talk about Paul in the playoffs and just how huge he was?

TYRONN LUE: I just think Paul was huge for us all season, not just the playoffs but all season. And I know you judge off the playoffs and he had a hell of a playoff run. I know he wanted to play and keep competing but he was out of gas. You want to give it your all and he did that and that's all you can ask for. If you leave it all on the line and leave it on the floor, you can live with the results. And I think our guys can live with the results after laying it on the line for so long.