Following consecutive disappointing seasons with Byron Scott as their head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers hire Luke Walton to fill the vacant position. His interim head coaching record is 39-4 with the Golden State Warriors, taking the place of actual coach Steve Kerr during his leave of absence. While those victories will be added to Kerr’s resume, the NBA quickly became aware of Walton’s abilities.
Prior to this season, Walton was widely known as the player to average a putrid 4.9 PPG over his nine seasons as a Laker; winding up with two championship rings in the process. After his career as a player concluded, he ventured into the world of assistant coaching. Apparently, his intrigue in coaching began while recovering from a back injury while playing for Phil Jackson in L.A. He’s now come full circle, becoming another one of Jackson’s prodigies to become a head coach. Walton will bring his short term head coaching experience, teachings from the “Zen Master”, and knowledge of being a former player with him to L.A. to help groom his young roster.
Walton has a ton to offer the Lakers moving forward. He’s young, familiar with the organization, possesses a firm grasp of the triangle offense, and has three rings under his belt. The current Lakers roster won’t be competing anytime soon to reach the NBA Finals. Nevertheless, Walton can instill a championship mindset into his squad; ensuring they work hard and never get lazy. If given time to allow the rebuilding process to take its course, then the Lakers will be an improved franchise sooner rather than later.
Walton’s first major decision as head coach of the Lakers will be deciding which prospect to select. The 2016 NBA Draft is approaching and Los Angeles is destined for a high lottery pick. After 82 games, L.A finished last in the Western Conference standings at 17-65. Only the Philadelphia 76ers will have a better chance of landing the No.1 pick in this draft. Assuming that they receive the No.2 selection, picking Brandon Ingram would be an excellent decision to start the post-Kobe era of Laker basketball. He’s long, athletic, savvy off the dribble, and would be able to slowly develop alongside the other youngsters in D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
Los Angeles is the “City of Flowers and Sunshine”, but over these past couple of seasons it has been mainly darkness for the Lakers. However, this was a smart move by the front office after the original questionable hire of Scott. There are brighter days for the Lakers over the horizon, they just have to be patient for those days to arrive.
Main Photo:
