Luke Walton is new Lakers head coach
It's been a great year for ex-player turned Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton. After cutting short his pro-basketball career and deciding to explore coaching instead, the 36-year old saw his stock rise rapidly after filling in for Steve Kerr during the early part of the regular season, guiding Steph Curry and the rest of the Warriors to a 39-4 record.
And while they're still in the hunt for a second-straight NBA title, the young coach will have a lot of good things to look forward to next season. Well, he no longer will be part of Kerr's coaching staff by next year after the Los Angeles Lakers announced that he will be the team's next head coach.
According to multiple reports, the Lakers gave Walton a multi-year deal last Friday, and his hiring is some sort of a homecoming since he spent almost a decade with the team as a player, where he won two championships with them.
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Earlier last week, his current team, Golden State, gave him permission to apply for the Lakers' coaching job right after it was vacated when Byron Scott was fired.
There is a lot of responsibility that Walton is expected to carry once he begins his new role. It can also be a long and winding road ahead and success may not be felt in his first season, owing to the fact that the current roster is made up of very young players who need discipline and guidance.
Walton will be inheriting a squad that no longer has its most important player – Kobe Bryant. But it should be a good thing for him since he will be looking at a total rebuilding effort. The only notable veterans left are Nick Young, Lou Williams, and Roy Hibbert. The team will be bannered by up-and-coming stars in the league in Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell, and Julius Randle.
