INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The jumpsuits Tyronn Lue wore to practice for much of the season resembled something an extra on "The Sopranos" would wear for a scene at Satriale's.
Dark and nondescript, sometimes even logo-less, Lue would normally offset the look with a flashy pair of kicks -- sometimes Air Jordans, sometimes the signature sneakers of LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, sometimes a rarer pair like the Nike Air Huaraches.
The coach is clearly more about substance than style.
"I think just being comfortable," the Cleveland Cavaliers coach said, explaining his low-key attire choices in an ESPN.com sit-down interview this week. "It is what I have worn my whole career is basketball shoes and running shoes. I can't come to work at 8 o'clock in the morning like you with a suit and tie on every single day. But just being comfortable and since you started talking about my [jump] suits, I went and bought some different sweat suits: Nike and I got some lululemon."
He's eschewed the deep pockets of his anonymous attire -- literal deep pockets are why he said he wore them in the first place, to carry stuff while he conducts practice -- for the trendier threads. Thursday, he'll hope to keep his team trending in the right direction and extend its hot 12-2 postseason record in Game 1 of the Finals against the Golden State Warriors (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
The following is an edited transcript of Lue's conversation with ESPN.com on Tuesday, shortly before the Cavs flew to California for the start of the series.
Q: You mentioned being comfortable. Another way to put it is being authentic. Since you were promoted, do you ever think about trying to be or act like a head coach? Do you find yourself saying, 'I am acting like Doc Rivers, I need to act more like myself?'
A: "I just think [about] being myself and I think the guys respect that, and I think that they respect hearing the truth from me, and they respect who I am. And I have gotten respect from all the greats I played with and all greats I have coached and that was just being myself. Never drinking. Never smoking. On and off the court, staying out of trouble. Playing 11 years in the NBA and never having a technical foul. Never drank. Never smoked. So, I think just being myself and always telling the truth you get that respect from these guys.
Q: Think back to when you got the job [on Jan. 22]. It's a Friday afternoon, you find out David Blatt has been fired, there's a game on Saturday night and a bunch more games to follow rapid fire. What was that time in your life like?
A: It was whirlwind ... Didn't have a lot of time to prep. [I was] just kind of doing things on the fly. If you know me, I love to be organized and I love to have things set in place of what I am going to do and taking over the way I had to take over was just tough for me because I was not organized or prepared. You always want to get a lot of stuff in, but you can't put too much stuff because the guys are thinking instead of playing and reacting. So, it was a tough two months for me just trying to be prepared and trying to get what I wanted to incorporate you know for our team ... it was just tough for that first two and a half months.
Q: When did you catch up to speed?
A: When I was able to put some things in defensively and offensively. Continue to work with the guys. Continue to harp on ball movement and pace. And I thought we really caught on after that Brooklyn loss is when I thought we really clicked and we really got it.
Q: That was a big moment for your team, you challenging them in an air-it-out meeting in New York late in the season. Did you plan that? Was it spur of the moment? Did you consult your coaching staff before you did it?
A: No. We had a couple of team meetings after I had taken over. But in New York it was more of airing things out. It was spur of the moment. I did not tell the coaches. I was going in to do a film session and I just started talking and it led into that. Everyone spoke up and LeBron, Kyrie [Irving], Kevin [Love], James Jones, J.R. [Smith], Delly [Matthew Dellavedova], Mo Williams. So, everyone took part in it and I just thought that that right there changed our season.
[It was] just talking to the big three for those guys to understand on a night-to-night basis what they needed from one another, knowing that it's not going be your night every night. Tonight can be Kevin and Kyrie. Tomorrow can be Kyrie and LeBron. It can be Kevin and LeBron. So, it is going to be a different combo every single night and just like the playoffs it is going to be a different series, so different guys are going have to step up and play well.
[I told them] Kevin is one of the top 10 players in this league. We got to feature Kevin. Kevin, you got to be more aggressive, you got to be more assertive. You got to tell those guys, 'Listen, I am a bad guy, too. So, get me the basketball.' So, I think after hearing Kevin speak and him hearing me say that in front of everyone and LeBron [it clicked]. And like listen, 'LeBron, I am open. Throw me the basketball.' I think once we talked about that -- those three on the same page -- that really, really helped us out and opened up the trust for the rest of the team.
Q: How do you get LeBron James' trust? What's it like coaching him?
A: He makes my job easy as far as making the plays that he makes. I think LeBron trusted me. I think for myself being organized and being prepared, always looking one step ahead. You know I played the game and I think he can respect that.
For a lot of players, I have been in a lot of situations. I've started. I've come off the bench. I've not played. I've been on the worst team in the NBA. I've won championships. I have been hurt and injured and missed six, seven, eight months of the season. I have seen every aspect of basketball that you can see as a player and I think they can relate to that and I can understand them.
Q: What's your approach to coaching LeBron?
A: LeBron is like a coach. He is a coach on the floor. He has a great basketball IQ. I bounce a lot of things off of him. How we would play certain things or how he would do certain things. You got to ask your best players all the time what they like or what they are comfortable with. That is what I do with Kyrie. That is what I do with Kevin, when they want the ball in their sweet spots. I got to talk to those guys. There is nothing wrong with that. They understand that. I understand that. Dealing with LeBron is like a friendship. Coaching, but he understands that I am the boss and I am going to call the shots and he is fine with that.
Q: What can you learn from how Oklahoma City played the Warriors and apply that to the Finals?
A: Well, I love their physicality. I thought they were very physical with Golden State. I thought they had the athletes and athleticism to do what they did. They switched a lot of things [on defense]. The biggest thing for me would be we got to be aggressive. We got to be aggressive. We got to attack on the offensive end. We can't settle for quick jump shots and bail those guys out and let them get down in early transition and getting 3s in Oracle Arena because it's going to get crazy when they get 3s.
So, we want to push the pace. We want to play fast, but not in a hurry. We want to take our open shots when we got them. We want to push the pace and try and get easy baskets. But not be unable to get under control and run sets.
Q: When you played did you look at different players and think, 'That guy can be a coach?'
A: You know, I didn't even know myself. I texted Doc Rivers, we texted back and forth a few days ago, and I told him thank you for seeing something in me that I didn't see in myself. In 2003 he said you can come and coach for me when you are done playing and I was like, 'Yeah, right.' In 2009, I gave him a call and said I want to try it.
Usually when somebody tells you that, they never follow through. He called me back the next day and had a job for me. So I want to thank Doc for being a man of his word and seeing something in me that I didn't even know was there. Because I never wanted to coach when I was playing, I thought it would be too hard. But he saw something in me and I am glad he did.
Q: At what point did basketball make your life fall into place?
A: Basketball has been my whole life, that is all I have known growing up. I think the biggest thing for me was joining the Lakers organization when I did and having a chance to win two championships and I knew it was all about winning. I think when you put winning over everything else, it makes it so much easier because it's about team. It's about putting in the work. Going through training camps and blood, sweat and tears. Going through all the injuries and the pain you suffer. It is the 15 guys in the locker room and the pain you suffered and the organization that help pull you through. And I think when you understand that, it makes it a lot easier.
When I first took over I told the guys I am going to make some mistakes, but every mistake I make is going to be for the good of the team and if they understand that also, then we can be a better team.
Q: You also said you were worried about the team's spirit when you took over, not about wins and losses. When did you see the spirit improve?
A: I think it was the last three weeks of the season. I thought we really started to play basketball the right way and started to jell. I thought guys started to open up to each other ... Winning takes care a lot of that. The winning cures a lot of that. But, wow, it is genuine and I think hitting the playoffs, winning our first 10 games, Kevin playing at high level, Kyrie playing at a high level and J.R. chipping in, Channing Frye...I think that shows the type of team we have ... The way we are playing basketball and moving and sharing it, it is just fun to play that way.
Q: Does your team know what it needs to do to get to the next level?
A: Yes, they know. We are going to keep drilling it, so they do know. They understand you have to take advantage of the moment. You can't wait until next year or two years from now. Like OKC, they played Miami in the Finals [in 2012] and think, 'Next year, we'll have them,' and they never made it back.
You got to take advantage of every opportunity in life, in sports. Whatever you do in life, you got to take advantage of it as soon as you can.