A loophole in the selection of who earns the right to be the head coach in the NBA All-Star game has allowed newly installed Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue to call the shots for the Eastern All-Stars this February.

Lue was immediately announced as the Cavs new head coach after the unceremonious firing of David Blatt.

Despite leading the Cavs to an Eastern Conference-leading card, the former European coach was given the boot by general manager David Griffin in what he calls something made for the greater good.

Word of trouble from within was pointed out as the reason, with the players no longer responding to Blatt. Critics believe that much of that was typified when the Cavs got blown out by the Golden State Warriors by a wide margin of 34 points (132-98) last January 19.

Blatt was given his walking papers on January 24, the same day that Lue was appointed to replace him. The move was seen by many as long brewing.

Thus far, Lue is 2-1 as head coach but will nevertheless be named as the East All-Stars head coach due to an NBA ruling on the assignment of who qualifies to call the shots.

The NBA released a statement via Fox Sports recently on why Lue qualified to be the head coach for the East All Stars:

"Head coaches whose teams have the best records in each conference following the games played two weeks prior to the All-Star Game serve as the All-Star Game head coaches, but no head coach is allowed to participate in two consecutive All-Star Games."

In the eyes of many, that honor should have been for Blatt who technically did all the work leading to the Cavs current card. If not, many felt that Dwane Casey of the Toronto Raptors should have been named instead, considering Lue has barely proven anything as far as the Cavs win-loss record is concerned (aside from the 2-1 he now has).

Tristan Thompson, a Canadian who would normally be on the side of Toronto, is ironically justifying Lue’s appointment.

"I know Toronto fans would love having Coach Casey be the coach, but at the end of the day, we've got more wins. That's why we get our coach in," Thompson said via cleveland.com.

True enough, Lue had been on the coaching staff since day 1, so it does make (sort of) sense.

For some, however, it would have been a class act on his part had he shunned the opportunity and stepped aside for Casey knowing he wasn’t really at the helm all this time.

Then again, it is an NBA ruling and an opportunity that even Lue will not likely pass up.