Luke Walton is by far the most obvious hire of the bunch because of his past with the Lakers and nearly flawless current track record as a coach.
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According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Lakers have received permission from the San Antonio Spurs to interview their lead assistant coach, Ettore Messina, as a possible replacement for the recently departed Byron Scott.
But the Lakers waited too long to fire Byron Scott, and this brought some problems for the team. Throughout the National Basketball Association season, fans have questioned the former head coach’s move to keep playing Bryant as a starter as opposed to bringing in D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson into the fray.
After the Year of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers’ brass chose to part ways with their former head coach Byron Scott on Monday, albeit two weeks too late to land either Tom Thibodeau or Scott Brooks, now leading the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Washington Wizards respectively. The Lakers expect to lobby hard for the 27-year-old’s services, and having Ollie on the pitch committee wouldn’t hurt the Lakers’ chances of landing the 2014 Most Valuable Player.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday night that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had called his Warriors couterpart Bob Myers asking for permission to speak to Walton.
Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton smiled as he deflected questions about head coaching openings and said he would only answer those regarding the playoffs.
So now the Lakers, with a young, inexperienced group as the core, will look to start turning things around and restore the franchise to former glory. It also doesn’t hurt being in a major market with an abundance of cap space to spend on major free agents this summer. We are selling the city, the franchise, our fanbase to potential free agents. “This past season was the worst season in Lakers franchise history”.
Walton has built close relationships with various members of the Lakers organization after playing as a key reserve from 2004 to 2012, which included National Basketball Association championship runs in 2009 and 2010.
Good for the Timberbwolves, but the Lakers got beat to the punch.BY THE TIMBERWOLVES.C’mon man! Today, Marc Stein said that the Kings and former Houston coach, Kevin McHale have had exploratory talks about the position. If Messina can import that style to the Lakers, LA would gladly take him on without blinking twice.
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Stevens says it’s still unlikely that Avery Bradley will be able to return this series after sitting out his fourth straight game with a strained right hamstring.
