Walton’s dream of being a head coach has come true now, and if he can approximate even half of the success Kerr experienced in his first year as a head coach, the Lakers season will be considered a rousing success.
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The Los Angeles Lakers recently fired head coach Byron Scott after two seasons.
Walton is a triangle disciple, familiar with the offense in which he spent seven years when Phil Jackson coached the Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the current Golden State Warriors assistant coach in Walton have reportedly finalized a five-year deal worth $5-6 million per season to make him their next head coach, multiple sources have confirmed. Walton will begin his new duties at the conclusion of the Golden State Warriors season.
“We told Mitch that he’s perfectly welcome to talk to Luke as soon as the series is over and we have a little break”, Kerr said of Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak. “Currently, he is one of the brightest young coaches in the game”. Gentry left last summer to become head coach in New Orleans, after which Kerr promoted Walton to the top assistant post. That included an NBA-record 24-0 start to the season, en route to the Warriors posting the best mark in league history. He will take over as the Lakers head coach whenever Golden State’s season ends. Jackson and Walton said that the Knicks’ opening was not discussed although a person familiar with the situation said that Walton informed him he was not interested in coming to the Knicks. However, Walton’s job in LA will not be an easy one as he will now be put in charge of nearly completely rebuilding the Los Angeles Lakers franchise.
Walton coached on Kerr’s staff for two seasons. For months, he has been considered a strong candidate to be in the Lakers’ plans if they made a change. That could take several weeks, since Golden State is headed for the second round with designs on a second straight championship.
It will be interesting to see what kind of job Walton might be able to do with a young, but talented roster with the Lakers.
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Walton, a second-round pick out of Arizona in 2003, was a depth forward on the Lakers’ championship teams in 2009 and 2010 before getting traded to Cleveland in March 2012. “He’s obviously a guy we want around”.
