For the third time this season, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue had to bow out of a game early Saturday with an undisclosed illness, and superstar forward LeBron James revealed postgame his bench boss' ailments are a growing concern for him and his teammates.
"I mean, he's the captain of the ship, so absolutely," James said after the Cavaliers' 114-109 win over the Chicago Bulls, courtesy of ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "We worry about his health, obviously. That's way more important than this game of basketball.
"We know he's been doing everything he needs to do to stay healthy. Take even more measures to get himself right. Everything that's been going on with our year, it's just another one."
Lue appeared to be in good health in the first half, coaching his team to a 69-52 lead. He didn't resurface for the second half, prompting assistant Larry Drew to take over head coaching duties.
Lue didn't speak to reporters after the game and Drew said he's unsure what the Cavaliers' head coach is dealing with.
"I'm not sure exactly what it is," Drew said. "I just know that before coming out in the second half, he wasn't feeling well. And I thought that there was a chance that he would (eventually) come out, but he just wasn't well enough to come out, so we had to just go on."
It was the second time this season Lue had to prematurely leave a game against the Bulls. He also had to leave early against the Orlando Magic last month.
