Tyronn Lue has agreed to become the next coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

Lue will replace Doc Rivers, who coached the Clippers for the last seven seasons and is now coaching the Philadelphia 76ers. Lue, 43, was on Rivers’ staff this season when the Clippers wasted a 3-1 lead over Denver and lost in the Western Conference semifinals.

ESPN first reported the agreement between Lue and the Clippers, saying it is a five-year deal.

It’s not the first time Lue has been promoted to head coach in the NBA in the wake of a firing. He was on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ staff when he replaced David Blatt during the 2015-16 season. Under Lue’s guidance, the Cavs went on to win their first-ever NBA championship that season, making Lue one of the few rookie coaches in the league to ever lead his team to a title.

Lue, who won two NBA championships as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, went 128-83 in parts of four seasons as Cleveland’s coach. He coached the team to the NBA finals in 2017 and 2018, but both times they lost to Golden State. He was fired after an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season.

Lue’s hiring means there are now six Black head coaches in the NBA, as he joins Rivers in Philadelphia, Lloyd Pierce in Atlanta, J.B. Bickerstaff in Cleveland, Monty Williams in Phoenix and Dwane Casey in Detroit.

Lue also was a candidate for other jobs this offseason, including in Houston and New Orleans.

The Clippers – in the first season of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George playing together – went 49-23 this regular season, the fourth-best record in franchise history.

ROCKETS: Houston General Manager Daryl Morey is stepping down on his own accord, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been announced. It was first reported by ESPN.

Morey caused an international uproar last year when he tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. Morey tweeted an image that said: “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” His tweet was in reference to pro-democracy demonstrations in the semiautonomous Chinese territory that had been mired in escalating violence between protesters and law enforcement.

The tweet caused businesses in China to cut ties with the Rockets and broadcasters there refused to air the team’s games this past season. NBA telecasts in China, however, resumed during the recent NBA finals.

The Rockets have made the playoffs 10 times since Morey was hired in 2007, including the last eight seasons. Morey was responsible for the blockbuster trade that brought James Harden to Houston from Oklahoma City. The Rockets reached the Western Conference finals twice under Morey but were unable to win their first championship since the team captured consecutive titles in 1994-95.

The move comes after Coach Mike D’Antoni told the team he would not return next season.

Houston went 640-400 with Morey as the general manager and won a franchise-record 65 regular-season games in the 2017-18 season. That was the second time they lost in the conference finals under Morey, falling to the Warriors in seven games after also losing to them in the conference finals in 2015.

Morey is an MIT graduate who became one of the early proponents of the use of analytics in the NBA. In perhaps his most unconventional move, he got rid of center Clint Capela in a three-team trade in February and the Rockets played “small ball” the rest of the season without a true center.

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