The arrival of LeBron James has changed life for Lakers coach Luke Walton in several ways, writes Bill Oram of The Athletic. After two relatively stress-free years at the helm, expectations just went way up in Los Angeles. Walton only has to look at Erik Spoelstra in Miami and David Blatt in Cleveland to see the pressure that comes to coaches who are suddenly paired with the NBA’s top talent.
And Walton has more than just the LeBron dynamic to be concerned with. The Lakers have a large collection of veterans on one-year contracts who will all want playing time to maximize their value for next summer. There’s a huge hole in the roster at center, along with a point guard battle between Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball. There’s also the watchful eye of management, where team president Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka are also under pressure to produce a winner.
“That’s one of the reasons Luke is good,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who once employed Walton as his lead assistant. “He’s grown up in the NBA and he understands what a weird world we live in. The job changes almost daily depending on your circumstances.”
There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:
- Walton plans to monitor James’ minutes to keep from burning out his new star, relays Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James played a league-high average of 36.9 minutes per game last season in Cleveland without taking a night off. Walton plans a much more relaxed approach to avoid tiring out James, who turns 34 in December. “We’ve got four years,” he said, referring to the length of James’ new contract.
- Stephen Curry tells Marcus Thompson of The Athletic he doesn’t believe he’ll be in the MVP race regardless of the numbers he posts. The Warriors guard already has a pair of MVP trophies, but he says “the narrative” doesn’t work in his favor. “I don’t care,” he said. “I just know the narrative isn’t there, so I would have to go above and beyond. So, it’s whatever. I’m blessed to have three rings. I’m good.”
- Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins has a new shoe deal with Puma after Nike refused to match his offer, tweets Nick DePaula of ESPN. Cousins becomes the top player associated with the Puma brand.
James will want all his minutes. He doesn’t tire like others. However Lakers have to find ways to get him days off without getting the commish involved.
KD doesn’t need to be in GS. Hope he leaves next year, and Steph and KD can both go back to being top MVP candidates!
I don’t think I’m watching the NBA this season, just too predictable. I’ll tune in here and then but just not entertaining enough for me, no rookies good enough to breakout and do nothing special.
All I want is Stephen Curry to get his 4th ring and Finals MVP, he is a true ground breaker and has done special things in the NBA as opposed to the media talking about LeBron non-stop. Curry has made his greatness and greatness is created for LeBron.
Everyone wants to see Durant elsewhere instead because their team can’t step up and compete. Everyone acts like it’s 10 against 5, the Warriors are putting 5 basketball players on the floor just like the opposing team. This league is built on whining,complaining, and excuses these days it is truly sad man.
This post is built on whining complaining and excuses
So how many games did you see last year?
Close to 30 lol
Sooo… you’ll see 29 then. Can’t give up your thing!
Dionis ur hatred for LeBron is very clear. How was greatness created for him??? That’s like saying because Nike created the Jordan Brand his rookie year the Jordan had his greatness created as well.
Jordan was great, LeBron is far from great. There is nothing great about him, the man can’t score unless it’s bull drive to the basket for a lay-up or score off a pass for a lay-up or dunk. His skill level is lacking, Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma we’re carrying the Lakers. No one ever carried Michael, Michael made it happen.
I don’t want to see Durant leave, watching the warriors play is so fun, but I would like curry to get his finals mvp.
You’re right about lebron his game is pure speed and strength, he picks a shoulder and just runs through it, it’s still very impressive but he isn’t a great shooter from 3 or mid range so he uses so much energy driving and then ends up by the basket which makes it harder to get back on defense, he constantly complains to refs and gets back slow on defense, if you go back and watch that alone cost them a couple games in finals, and somehow he got a pass for “resting” on defense last year. He has to be the example for lakers on defense if they are gonna win.
Ever see lebron cross someone up? You can say he doesn’t need to but his skill just isn’t as high as other players and if everyone is standing around watching him dominate the ball it’s not as fun to watch, and if he doesn’t have ball he just stands around, maybe he will get back to being an elite cutter like he was in Miami.
Warriors unpredictable offense is what makes them special, every guy brings ball up, every player starts at diff spots, every player screens for eachother and cuts and they contest shots on defense better than anyone.
I wouldn’t say it’s too predictable, every nba game comes down to a handful of possessions, turnover or bad shot turns into a fast break can be a 4-6 point swing.
Some People just repeat the narratives they hear from their favorite media personalities they don’t actually watch and study the games and form their own opinions. Arguing about things based on opinion is pointless especially if those opinions are formed by Stephen A or others like him. Even most nba reporters are just watching games trying to find more narratives and strong opinions to argue about.
Puma? Now I want an NBA player to be sponsored by Kangaroos, New Balance and Vans!