Golden State Warriors: Steve Kerr backs former assistant Luke Walton
Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors head coach, backed his former assistant Luke Walton who was just fired as the LA Lakers head coach.
Former Golden State Warriors’ assistant and former LA Lakers’ head coach Luke Walton was recently fired. After a subpar season and another missed playoff appearance, the Lakers decided to cut ties with the young coach.
Steve Kerr, while not adamant about their decision, did comment that the team is “losing one of the best human beings in the league.”
That does go to show the character of Luke Walton.
What may even show Walton’s character even further is the fact that, just a day after being released by LA, he was added on as the Sacramento Kings head coach. They believe in Walton to train up their young core, and it’s a shame the Lakers didn’t.
That said, you don’t get hired that quickly after having two unsuccessful seasons if you’re not the right man for the job. Obviously, Walton is a good coach; however, he wasn’t the ideal candidate to coach LeBron James.
Walton was the Lakers head coach for three consecutive seasons. While he missed the playoffs in all three, he did increase his win percentage in each of the three seasons, topping off at 45.1% in this past season.
With an overall record of 98-148, it was Walton’s time to go. Although many still believe in Walton, in the spotlight that is LA, you need to succeed when LeBron James, especially in his first season, is on your team, and their failure is, for the most part, consequently put on Walton.
However, Kerr understands that Walton still has a bright future. Kerr goes into how many of the circumstances revolving around Walton’s situation may have been brought on by factors that he did not have control over, such as the players that stabilize the team’s culture and the injuries throughout the season.
Nonetheless, Walton is out at LA and in at Sacramento.