Golden State Warriors: Luke Walton Gone; Who Replaces Him?
The Golden State Warriors have officially lost Luke Walton to the Los Angeles Lakers next season, so who’s next on Steve Kerr’s list of assistant coaches?
More from Warriors News
- 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
- Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
- Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
- Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court
- The Dream starting 5 for the Warriors 5 years from now
Luke Walton is more than capable of being an NBA-level head coach next season, and with the news of his new head coaching position coming straight out of El Segundo, it appears that’s apparently the direction he’s headed.
Walton, 36, will finish out this 2015-16 postseason with Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors before heading down to Southern California to pick up where Byron Scott left off with the Los Angeles Lakers (if Walton hasn’t chosen to to completely overhaul everything already).
A former Lakers player, Walton will be looked to bring the same magic he displayed earlier this year as he led the Warriors to a 36-4 record — including a 24-0 start to the season — prior to Kerr’s return to the mantle. And while the Warriors are currently in the middle of pulling off the greatest season in the history of basketball, Kerr could not be happier for his former assistant, per Warriors.com.
“I’m incredibly happy for Luke,” said Kerr. “As we witnessed earlier this season, he has all of the intangibles necessary to be an outstanding head coach in this league, including a terrific understanding of the game the ability to communicate with a wide range of people. He’s certainly ready for this opportunity and I’m confident he’ll do a great job with the Lakers once our season is complete.”
But enough about Luke Walton.
With yet another branch of the Kerr coaching tree now bearing fruit someplace warmer, one has to wonder who will be brought in to fill this seemingly irrecoverable void.
Of course, the Warriors will likely be more than fine, and as Yama Hazeer of WarriorsWorld said, “Last time the Warriors lost an assistant coach, they won the NBA Championship.”
But Walton wasn’t just some assistant coach who happened to be available for the job opening when Kerr came a knockin’. He wasn’t made the interim head coach after he and fellow assistants Ron Adams and Jarron Collins put their names in a hat and made a bed-ridden Kerr reach in blindly to choose his temporary replacement.
As Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group said in his latest piece about Walton, “He is a confidant for players. He is a calming yet youthful presence on staff. He is Kerr’s protege, someone Kerr feels extremely comfortable with. Finding a replacement for all that will be tough.”
Thompson also mentioned that Kerr said he’s “not over his issues.” Now if we assume Kerr is speaking on the back issues that had him sidelined for more than half the 2015-16 season, then that’s certainly an ominous comment that shouldn’t at all be taken lightly.
So if Kerr should miss some time next year for whatever reason, who’s to fill the shoes of offensive coordinator when Kerr isn’t around?
Thompson throws current New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry’s name onto the table, who led the Pels to a record of 30-52 amidst an injury-ridden season. Considering that Monty Williams was at the helm when the Pelicans went 45-37 before being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors, it’s safe to assume that no coaching job in the Association is safe.
While Gentry — who has years and years of NBA coaching experience — would be an awesome (re)acquisition, Warriors could, per Tim Kawakami’s suggestion, possibly look to promote Collins, thereby upgrading Theo Robertson from player development.
However, I’d like to throw in another name into the hat, that of former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, David Blatt.
Picture this: Blatt, looking to make true on the verbal commitment he made to join Kerr’s staff prior to the head coaching offer from the Cavs, turns down the New York Knicks in hopes of learning more about the NBA from the 2016 Coach of the Year, all the while sharing his unique basketball knowledge with the greatest basketball team in history!
Blatt wins. Kerr wins. The Warriors win. Phil and the triangle lose (again). It’s poetic justice. Can’t write it any better than that. Literally the only thing that would make this team-up more legendary is if if they somehow ended up finding a way to quell the conflict in the Middle East, an area to which both coaches have deep ties.
Related Story: Curry Should Have Been the Most Improved Player
Blatt may not be a youthful presence like Walton, nor exactly the ideal player confidant, but I think both Kerr and Blatt could benefit from forming such a partnership.
Plus if Blatt wants to go back to being in the NBA, TWO of Kerr’s associate head coaches over the past TWO years have moved onto bigger-yet-not-necessarily-better things, so it’s apparent that the best way to getting a head coaching job is by serving a short term on Kerr’s staff! Win-win situation.
Kerr, Blatt, 2017: Better than any political tandem the Republicans could present to America.
#MakeTheWarriorsBeChampionshipAgain.