Lakers: Luke Walton has agreed to become the next head coach of the Lakers

[whitemamba]

argy fargo ‏@isaiahko_ 1m1 minute ago Riverside, CA

Luke Walton should be a decent coach, all he knows is the bench

you watching the CL?

[Molotov]

Good God there is a giant semen cloud over this hiring at LG

[lefty]

you watching the CL?

yup

[Narutoluva]

I approve of this got hire.

[whitemamba]

yup

Who ya got?

[Mitch]

[StrengthAndHonor]

Umm someone with a proven track record...someone with a no nonsense mentality....someone that can command respect...Kevin Ollie, Thibs, JVG...

This is not my idea of a head coach...

Kevin Ollie is equally unproven. Most NCAA coaches are unable to translate their success in the big league. Thibodeaux is an ISO centric coach, he's also known to run his players to the ground and can be quite difficult. He's a great defensive coordinator but is massively overrated as a coach.


The Lakers future doesn't rely on Luke Walton, it's a huge misconception, how they draft and how they send their money during this offseason will have a far more bigger impact.

[da_suns_fan]

Am I the only non-Laker fan who thinks this was a good hire for them?

I mean his dad was a legendary coach, he played under Phil Jackson, served under Steve Kerr etc.

If you dont like Walton for Lakers, who would you like? Would ANYONE not be trashed on this board?

[lefty]

Who ya got?

Madrid

[Clipper Nation]

Am I the only non-Laker fan who thinks this was a good hire for them?

Glad we've now confirmed that this is a hire.

[UZER]

Kobe to Luke: "You can be my Byron."

[Koolaid_Man]

Kevin Ollie is equally unproven. Most NCAA coaches are unable to translate their success in the big league. Thibodeaux is an ISO centric coach, he's also known to run his players to the ground and can be quite difficult. He's a great defensive coordinator but is massively overrated as a coach.


The Lakers future doesn't rely on Luke Walton, it's a huge misconception, how they draft and how they send their money during this offseason will have a far more bigger impact.

Ollie is a winner and more importantly a leader....Walton sitting on the bench behind Steve Kerr whispering nothing but sweet lullibyes in his ear is no comparison to Ollie... Don't disagree on Thibbs ......

The problem is there was only one right move and they blew...you don't hire the first guy walk in the door because of media hype...thats whats gonna make this a failure....they could have given him a verbal commitment but asked him to allow them to do their due diligence but they didnt...they knee jerked to the media....to compund the issue it looks as if they're gonna be content to work with this core....look Randle is a good player but no one on the has Superstar potential....they should have been going all in on free agency...no one is coming to play for Luke...and D'angelo Camera is not the guy....can't play defense but doesn't have the atheletic ability to play it it....he's another one trick pony....he's a lefty which is another reason he's capped...he's another Andre Miller tops...he should be traded immediately.....Clarkson is decent but not inspiring.....we have nothing at this point.....a solid coach hire would have been a good start....

[midnightpulp]

Kool is right. The only reason Luke Walton has any credibility at the moment is because he rode Wardell and Co. for the first 3rd of the season. I don't doubt that Luke isn't a smart guy with a great basketball IQ, but he isn't ready for an NBA head coaching job right now, especially one that will be something of a challenge.

He has had a whole season and a half of assistant coaching experience in the NBA and never held a head coaching job anywhere, from a Pee Wee basketball league to high school to college. "Wunderkinds" like Brad Stevens have been assistants or head coaches usually for a decade or more, and have proven themselves. Kevin Ollie doesn't have that experience, but at least he's been a head coach at a high profile program for the last 3 years.

Luke is also reportedly a triangle fan, which won't fit at all with that roster.

He won't be any worse than Byron Scott, but this is largely a lateral move. Luke is still too green.

[DMC]

Lakers betting on something that hovered around something that inherited a playoff level team. Now all they need is RJ to retire and, ahem... "assist" Luke.

[Arcadian]

What a downgrade! From the Warriors to the Lkers...

[Hoops Czar]

What a downgrade! From the Warriors to the Lkers...

Penthouse to the outhouse. He's no revelation. He was handed a historically great team with the league's best all around player coming off an NBA championship season. He didn't have to do much in the way of coaching. He'll get his two years to fix this mess before the Lakers move in a different direction, yet again.

[DMC]

What a downgrade! From the Warriors to the Lkers...

Bet his accountant disagrees. Surely a Lakers HC makes more than a Warriors assistant.

[Ginobilly]

It's a good start for the lakers. Luke has learned a lot from Kerr who has learned a lot from Pop and Jackson. And plus Luke Walton is still young and has that "bro factor" that could cause the lakers young unit to play together as a cohesive unit and start changing things around? You never know? You would of thought that Steve Kerr would lead a team to victory as a rookie coach? Don't you ever underestimate the heart of a champion. Luke is a champion.

[LkrFan]

- Championship experience as a player? Check
- B2B champion as a player (unlike Dung-kin)? Check
- Championship experience as Asst Coach? Check
- B2B champion as an Asst Coach? TBD

I'm going to reserve judgment after I see his assembled coaching staff and the roster he'll be working with. This is a player's league. If he gets good players (remember, we have $65M to spend this summer on FAs), he'll have success. If he doesn't, he won't. The only other thing is whether he wants Ingram (my personal choice), Simmons, or that Oklahoma dude in the lotto. Let's see what happens.

[Splits]

Laker hiring process: "Oh hey look at dis new shiny ting, I wants"

idiots

[JamStone]

I think if we have learned anything about coaching over the last few years, very rarely does coaching matter if he has elite talent. It's hard to up when you got KG, Pierce, Ray Allen. Or if you got LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. Rivers and Spoelstra had been bukkaked with criticism for their coaching. But when they had the best talent, they still won. Herein lies the problem for Walton. His team sucks. Won't even matter if he's the next John Wooden if the players just aren't any good.

For Luke, I'd just insist with the front office that they purge the entire team except for Clarkson and Nance and get as many assets in return. Heck, purge them all and start from complete scratch. Can't be any worse than the current situation anyway.

[Splits]

Luke's resume: After his playing career, Walton served as a player development coach for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the 2013-14 season. He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis during the 2011 NBA lockout.

[Spurs9]

Luke's resume: After his playing career, Walton served as a player development coach for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the 2013-14 season. He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis during the 2011 NBA lockout.

Hired!

[ElNono]

I think if we have learned anything about coaching over the last few years, very rarely does coaching matter if he has elite talent. It's hard to up when you got KG, Pierce, Ray Allen. Or if you got LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. Rivers and Spoelstra had been bukkaked with criticism for their coaching. But when they had the best talent, they still won. Herein lies the problem for Walton. His team sucks. Won't even matter if he's the next John Wooden if the players just aren't any good.

For Luke, I'd just insist with the front office that they purge the entire team except for Clarkson and Nance and get as many assets in return. Heck, purge them all and start from complete scratch. Can't be any worse than the current situation anyway.

Actually, if he wants to be hired again by any other team later in his career, he needs to take over the personnel decisions. Like you said, they need to start over, but they can't have the same ups picking and choosing.

[Koolaid_Man]

Kool is right. The only reason Luke Walton has any credibility at the moment is because he rode Wardell and Co. for the first 3rd of the season. I don't doubt that Luke isn't a smart guy with a great basketball IQ, but he isn't ready for an NBA head coaching job right now, especially one that will be something of a challenge.

He has had a whole season and a half of assistant coaching experience in the NBA and never held a head coaching job anywhere, from a Pee Wee basketball league to high school to college. "Wunderkinds" like Brad Stevens have been assistants or head coaches usually for a decade or more, and have proven themselves. Kevin Ollie doesn't have that experience, but at least he's been a head coach at a high profile program for the last 3 years.

Luke is also reportedly a triangle fan, which won't fit at all with that roster.

He won't be any worse than Byron Scott, but this is largely a lateral move. Luke is still too green.

I think if we have learned anything about coaching over the last few years, very rarely does coaching matter if he has elite talent. It's hard to up when you got KG, Pierce, Ray Allen. Or if you got LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. Rivers and Spoelstra had been bukkaked with criticism for their coaching. But when they had the best talent, they still won. Herein lies the problem for Walton. His team sucks. Won't even matter if he's the next John Wooden if the players just aren't any good.

For Luke, I'd just insist with the front office that they purge the entire team except for Clarkson and Nance and get as many assets in return. Heck, purge them all and start from complete scratch. Can't be any worse than the current situation anyway.

^ both these guys are SPOT ON..