Luke Walton coached the Lakers last year, and it went, uh, not great. In LeBron James’ first year with the team, the Lakers failed to make the playoffs.
This offseason, Walton departed, along with half the young team, who were sent to New Orleans in a package that brought back Anthony Davis. The Lakers hired Frank Vogel to take over, and the Lakers now sit at 10-2 on the season after another win over the Kings on Friday night.
The coach of the Kings? Luke Walton.
After the game, LeBron was asked to reflect on his time with Walton, and was thoughtful in his praise of the young coach.
James pointed out that the Lakers were in contention right until Christmas time, when the team lost several key players to injury, and the season fell apart as the younger players failed to come together.
James contended that Walton “did as great of a job as you could under the circumstances.” The Lakers missed a combined 210 games last season due to injuries, most notably to James, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.
Walton also had kind words to say.
“To be back in your old building and go against a team you used to coach and play for, it’s exciting,” Walton said. “It sucks we didn’t come with the outcome we wanted. But I’m very pleased with the effort and the way that we played the game.”
The Kings got off to an 0-5 start, but have won four of the last six and now look like a team that can hang in the West.
