It’s widely assumed that Luke Walton will be relieved of his head coaching duties this offseason, but the Lakers‘ head coach isn’t fazed by the all the reports.
“I fully expect to be coaching this team again next year,” Walton tells Bill Oram of The Athletic.
Mark Jackson, Rick Carlisle, and Jason Kidd have all been rumored to be possible targets for the Lakers should the franchise let Walton go. Doc Rivers was brought up as a candidate before he shot down those rumors by announcing that he had signed a contract extension with the Clippers.
Tyronn Lue-to-Los Angeles chatter has been ongoing in NBA circles, though a source tells Oram that Lue recently called Walton to assure the coach that the franchise did not reach out to him about the position. Lue would let Walton know if he was speaking with the Lakers out of “courtesy and friendship,” the source said.
Lue and Walton both have championship rings as members of the Lakers. When Walton found out LeBron James was coming to town, Lue provided advice to him on coaching the four-time MVP.
James’ first season in Los Angeles has been a disaster. The NBA postseason will carry on without LBJ for the first time since the 2004/05 campaign, which also happened to be the first season for the Lakers post-Shaq-Kobe divorce.
Walton has long had an advocate in owner Jeanie Buss, though sources tell Oram that team president Magic Johnson will make the call on who’s coaching the team next season.
“Unless someone from within our group is telling me that, I just view it like all the other things we’ve gone through as a team this year,” Walton said. “Those are things that I don’t have the time to worry about. I’ve got more important things to do like getting the team better and doing my job.”
Walton seems like a decent dude. He was always going to be the scapegoat here. If they were successful, LeBron would have gotten all of the credit. With a bad season, Walton gets blamed. It will be interesting to see if any marquee free agents come to the Lakers this summer.
Walton has to be the scapegoat but he will get another chance down the road.
Someone hire Mark Jackson so we don’t have to hear his commentary on TV anymore.
Mama there goes that man
media driven bs it’s sad to see these low brow hit pieces
Lakers need a new HC, one that actually knows how to win, develop young ones & do proper rotations, basically knowing his stuff, which unfortunately Walton hasn’t got a clue what he does, proof in the pudding. Despite LBJ doing another MVP caliber season, Lakers have been bad, though without injuries they would have been a lock for the playoffs.
MVP caliber season? LMFAO… give me a break! He’s a disruption and we now see most stars don’t wanna play with the egotistical maniac.
Lebron has played well but he’s nowhere close to the mvp discussion. About 10-15 people in front of him, if not more. Also he’s sat about 1/3 of the season too.
You got it all figured out, dont you?
Mvp season for a team that is tanking!? Ok.
MVP level numbers does not make LBJ an MVP candidate.
His complete lack of effort on the defensive end of the court has been so bad that it’s made Harden’s D look all NBA level. The mental errors, getting pushed by a teammate into a defensive spot, and badly missing the playoffs after most expected the Lakers to be somewhere between a 3-6 seed are all proof that LBJ’s season is far from an MVP one.
As for Luke, he’ll be relieved of his duties, work as an analyst for a year or two, get another gig, and likely will be successful. Mark Jackson would be terrible working with LeBron. It’s going to have to be a lackey like Lue, who isn’t a great coach, but is a LeBron approved guy.
Kidd’s a little risky. He knows the game and has the respect of the top players but the best teams are looking for other qualities in the head man, such as leadership, accountability, player development, work ethic, and so forth. Jason revels in the NBA life but as with Doc Rivers that includes playing golf. Lakers might benefit from a coach that doesn’t own golf clubs or belong to a country club.
If they can’t get Phil Jackson then keep Walton.