The world wrote the Cavaliers off the moment it was announced LeBron James was taking his talents — including but not limited to basketball, acting, film and TV production, and general brand-building — to Los Angeles.

But Tyronn Lue assured the Herald his team is going to show up.

“Yeah, we’re going to have a training camp and everything,” the Cleveland coach cracked during the Cavs’ run to the semifinals of the Vegas Summer League. “We’re going to prepare and have a team and play. And we’re going to scrap every night, too.”

That said, Lue is not blind to the fact the Celtics, a team for which he was an assistant coach under Doc Rivers, will be the Eastern Conference favorite — well ahead of the Cavaliers.

“They have a great team — a great coach and a great team,” Lue said. “Kyrie (Irving, a former Cav) will be healthy and (Gordon) Hayward will be healthy, so they’re going to be really good. And if you look at it on paper, they are probably the team to beat in the East, but the games have still got to be played.”

Lue need look no further than Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, when the Celtics were expected to remain undefeated at home in the playoffs and defeat the Cavs in Game 7. But the C’s played horribly and Cleveland did well enough to earn an 87-79 victory and a trip to the NBA Finals (where it was swept by Golden State).

“It was a big win for us,” said Lue. “I think considering all the things we went through throughout the course of the season, with the trades and the injuries and all that — and then me going down for a two-week stretch (chest pains, sleep deprivation) stepping in and doing a great job — for that series to end the way it did, I think it was great. It was a great accomplishment for us.”

Now it might be considered a great accomplishment for the Cavs to just make the postseason.

“Well, when you lose the best player in the world, it’s hard to bounce back from that,” said Lue. “You can’t replace a player like LeBron James. So we’ve got to do it by committee.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that we’ve got to continue to develop. My coaching staff’s on board for that. They’re excited. My front office is excited. (Cavs owner) Dan Gilbert is excited. So it’s going to be a new challenge, a different challenge, but we’re up for it.”

COMPETITORS FIRST

While twins Marcus and Markieff Morris didn’t want to go against each other in the playoffs, Washington’s Bradley Beal said he would have had no problem battling close St. Louis friend Jayson Tatum.

“No, because we both love basketball, and we know this is something we both dreamed of,” Beal told the Herald. “We used to ride to school together. We have a relationship that goes beyond basketball, for sure. But at the end of the day, basketball is what we’re passionate about. It’s something that’s kind of shaped us and formed us into the men we are today. And we’re both competitive as is, so there are no friends once we step into the arena.”

Beal may have been the first to ticket Tatum for stardom and was totally unsurprised by his rookie year.

“I felt like he was the No. 1 pick,” he said, “and I thought Boston was going to take him at 1, but they knew that Philly didn’t want him. So they were smart in that way. Danny Ainge was brilliant in that mindset of playing his cards the right way and getting a great player in Jayson, because I felt like he was the best player in the draft, for sure.

“But at the end of the day, he’s worked tremendously hard for it. He’s somebody I’ve been watching since he was a baby in diapers. Literally in diapers. I’ve watched him grow up and seen the guy he’s become. He was always taller than everybody when we were younger, so I was like, ‘Oh, he’s going to be special.’ Then he started putting his skills together. He was working out with me in high school when I was in college and then for a couple of years when I was in the league. He had all the skills way before I did, so it was kind of a no-brainer for him to be doing what he’s doing out there now.”

Beal said the two converse “all the time. And he’s like a little brother to me, so he always has this little chip on his shoulder that he’s going to beat me and he’s better than me every time we face off. So it gives us a little bragging rights.”

The Wizards’ star is rightfully proud of Tatum’s success and his role in it.

“For sure,” Beal said, “but I never take credit for it, because he has a steady support group as is. He has two great parents and great friends around him. One of my best friends is one of his close friends, as well, so we pretty much keep a close and tight-knit circle.”

A WONDERFUL LIFE

We were remiss in not mentioning this in the paper earlier, but there is still great sadness at the passing last month of former Celtic security officer Grant Gray at age 87.

He and his wife had moved to North Carolina to be around their children and grandchildren. Gray was a Marine Corps veteran, a Melrose native and a heck of a nice man.

QUICK QUIZ

Name the three NBA referees (current or former) who played in the league.

A: Leon Wood was on six different teams in six years and also played a season in Spain. Haywoode Workman was on five teams in eight years and played two seasons in Italy. Bernie Fryer was a trailblazer and a Trail Blazer, playing for Portland and also New Orleans in the NBA and for part of a season with Marvin Barnes and St. Louis in the ABA.