Walton, who is now in his second season as an assistant coach with the Warriors, has played nine seasons for the Jerry Buss majority-owned club.
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The 36-year-old Walton, who won two championships during his nine seasons playing for the Lakers, guided defending champion Golden State to a record 24-0 start this season while filling in for Kerr when the coach was on a leave of absence following complications from two back surgeries. They’ve quickly found their replacement.
Luke Walton, who led the Warriors to a 39-4 record as Steve Kerr’s stand-in, is leaving to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The former Arizona Wildcats standout has been named the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced Friday night.
LOS ANGELES-The Los Angeles Lakers reached an agreement to hire Luke Walton as their new coach, making the former player and current assistant with Golden State the 26th coach in franchise history. “Currently, he is one of the brightest young coaches in the game”.
Walton coached on Kerr’s staff for two seasons.
Luke Walton will man the Staples Center sidelines next season. “We are certainly going to miss Luke after we conclude our playoff run this season, but we wish him the very best with the Lakers”. Player development coach for L.A. D-Fenders of NBA Development League in 2013-14. Luke Walton is the right man for this job, as he has been there and he’s seen it all when it comes to being an National Basketball Association player, and most importantly: an LA Laker. 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.
“I’m incredibly happy for Luke”, Kerr said in a release. Los Angeles went 21-61 and 17-65 under Scott, the two worst seasons in franchise history.
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He was also chosen by the Cavaliers to help bring their young team together meaning he can do the same to the Lakers’ future stars including D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. Walton will reportedly finish out the postseason with Golden State before taking over in LA. Walton has the background as a player with the Lakers and the experience from being on Golden State’s bench, so of course, they are going to love the move. He was a depth forward on the Lakers’ championship teams in 2009 and 2010 before getting traded to Cleveland in March 2012.
