A case for keeping Luke Walton as head coach

troy · Star Player Joined: 30 Jan 2013 Posts: 4991

I know this isn't a popular sentiment, but please hear me out.

Why not keep Luke Walton as head coach, and bring in someone like Ty Lue or Kidd as his head assistant coach? Here are my reasons for saying this:

First, most of your better teams have former head coaches employed as assistants, so doing this for the Lakers isn't at all a stretch. In fact, the Lakers are one of the few teams that don't have former head coaches serving as assistant coaches.

Second, I still don't think Luke Walton has had a fair deal. His projected starting lineup played very few games together this season. When they played together, they played well. However, the entire season was plagued with either long term injuries or suspensions. Our young players, our vets, and Lebron never had sufficient time to gel, as a cohesive unit. That's not necessarily Luke's fault.

Third, Luke never really had a quality lineup to begin with. Yes, we had Lebron, but we had a ton of young players that were still getting their collective stride in the NBA. Older teams, like the Clippers, often punked our young guys, out muscling them and getting into their heads. And then there was our vets. McGee started out great, got sick for 3 weeks, then for whatever reason, just lost his mind. Lance is a decent player, but not a needle mover. Rondo has a limited offensive game, and his defense has been suspect for years. Chandler was washed up, and he knows this, and Beasley struggled with his mother going through a slow death all season. Throw in Lebron just learning the system in LA, and you have a recipe for disaster. Luke never really had a chance with this lineup.

Fourth, we need a bridge between the Kupchak years, the Magic/Pelinka future, and Jeannie Buss. Do we really want to trust Magic in bringing in a coach that only he and Lebron want? Luke sort of grounds Magic and keeps Magic and Lebron in check, particularly if Jeannie publically backs him. There's already undue influence on our Lakers due to Lebron and Klutch, and with all due respect to Magic, not sure if we want to 100% trust his picks on a head coach.

Fifth, the young core likes him. The young players are on record as respecting Luke Walton, and it was Luke that advocated for the keeping of Julius Randle. It's not like Luke lost this team. Lebron may not have respected him, but they were never publically at each other, either.

Sixth, Luke has a championship pedigree. From playing with Kobe, to winning his own ring with the Lakers, to winning a ring with the Warriors, Luke is one of ours. A career Laker who has never been a problem for us on or off the court.

Lastly, stability. We have not had one head coach last more than 2 seasons since Phil Jackson. Your coach represents your franchise; instability at the head coaching spot means instability in the franchise. top free agents want stability; not chaos. A constant transition of too many head coaches, too often, stinks of instability.

Seems to me the best course of action involves retaining Luke Walton as our head coach, and for the hiring of a quality former head coach to be his first assistant.

Inspector Gadget · Retired Number Joined: 18 Apr 2016 Posts: 46684

Luke has been given 3 chances since he’s been here to redeem himself...

His record in the last 3 years since he’s been here..

26-56
35-47
33-42

It’s time for him to go.

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

Mamba Mentality · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:39 am Post subject:

Rotations are the biggest turn off for me. For 3 years its drove me crazy.
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“You can't be held captive by the fear of failure or the fear of what people may say.” - Kobe Bryant

socalsp3 · Star Player Joined: 07 Jul 2016 Posts: 3502

by this logic lets hire Phil to be Lukes assistant

but seriously i doubt the Lakers want to pay for 2 head coaches basically and these guys would never want to be assistants or "co-head coach"

luke brings nothing to the table. why bother keeping him.

adkindo · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:55 am Post subject:

Sentient Meat · Franchise Player Joined: 04 Jul 2014 Posts: 12978

It bothers me that Luke will take the fall, because although he was subpar, it was Magic and Rob that caused us to miss the playoffs.

If they put someone better then maybe it would be okay, but they will probably hire someone even worse.

adkindo · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:57 am Post subject:

Inspector Gadget · Retired Number Joined: 18 Apr 2016 Posts: 46684

socalsp3 · Star Player Joined: 07 Jul 2016 Posts: 3502

forzaCOREA · Starting Rotation Joined: 08 Mar 2010 Posts: 804

Would be dope if we could get Nick Van Exel as an assistant. He was so loved here. I feel like like he could be a great mentor to our young core.

Last person I want anywhere near our roster is Jason Kidd.. didn't he beat his wife on more than one occasion?..

I wouldn't mind keeping Luke. From season 1 to season 2 lakers record improved, and this year we were on pace to hit 48wins+ before injuries. His rotation patterns were awful but I feel towards the end he got much better. I say.. give him maybe 10-15 games next year and if we are still subpar then we can give him the boot. Lebron was hurt and our young core was inconsistent and our rental veterans were awful at times.. can't just blame the coach on that one.

gaogi · Sixth Man Joined: 20 Jul 2016 Posts: 59

MustardJam · Starting Rotation Joined: 13 Feb 2019 Posts: 226

It's either Luke or Lebron and the FO.

The way Luke has been treated is unfair. He did an extremely good job getting the guys to play for each other and work hard. He also was doing fairly well this season before everyone got hurt.

However, our (bleep) pathetic excuse for a FO decided to throw him under the bus and Magic doesn't like him (which means he is probably a good coach). Lebron also clearly doesn't respect him. So you either get rid of Walton or Lebron and the FO.

One thing I will say, his rotations are some of the worst in the NBA. IF he were to stay they would need to hire a smart basketball mind to help with that (bleep).

venturalakersfan · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:19 am Post subject:

ringfinger · Retired Number Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 29418

Rather bring in a legit coach and have Luke as an assitant so he can learn.

But he’d never accept a demotion so that won’t happen.

venturalakersfan · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:21 am Post subject:

VocabuLaker · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:21 am Post subject:

Hi Jeanie! How are you? Are you still going to France this summer?

Eindhoven · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:37 am Post subject:

I'm not 100% on Luke's side, but he's better than most of the options we're seeing seeing so far. I'd make a change for a top notch NBA coach, not Kidd, Jackson or Lue. Even for a top NCAA coach.

He needs to overhaul his staff, I'd only keep Brian Keefe, who's the defensive coordinator. When healthy, we had a pretty good defense. Besides, he seems to be training Ingram and doing a good job.

Brian Shaw, Jesse Mermuys and Miles Simon need to go. Bring a good Xs & Os guy, an offensive coordinator and a shooting coach.
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ContagiousInspiration · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:54 am Post subject:

The Lakers need a Mental Conditioning Coach.
They need individual confidence
These guys make mistakes they should not be making
Lacking mental focus.

The Juggernaut · Star Player Joined: 24 Aug 2017 Posts: 4572

Luke is a flat out terrible coach. He's worse than Mark Jackson and on par with Jason Kidd.

https://www.bball-index.com/luke-walton-lame-duck/

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

YSong · Star Player Joined: 16 Sep 2016 Posts: 2329

Luke is garbage

KBH · Franchise Player Joined: 13 Sep 2008 Posts: 12171

King Randle · Star Player Joined: 21 Jul 2014 Posts: 7313

splashmtn · Star Player Joined: 30 Aug 2016 Posts: 3961