EL SEGUNDO – Despite the Lakers dramatic December slide, Coach Luke Walton said he does not believe his job is in jeopardy.
“I don’t,” Walton said Friday morning. “I coach as if it’s not.”
His comments came less than a week after owner Jeanie Buss offered an apparent endorsement of Walton, the team’s fourth coach since 2013, tweeting, “#InLukeWeTrust” on New Year’s Eve.
Thank you for the unwavering support. We will get there and it will be sweeter because we went through the tough times together. Luke Walton: “We will get through this and we will be stronger when we do.” #Lakers Family #InLukeWeTrust https://t.co/tSsut2NJlf
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) December 31, 2017
The Lakers will enter Friday’s matchup with Charlotte at 11-26, the second-worst record in the NBA. They have lost eight consecutive games and suffered their worst loss of the season, 133-96, to Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
While this is the point other franchises might start looking to make a change on the bench, the Lakers seem to remain committed to Walton, who is in his second season after being lured from the Golden State Warriors.
Walton said focusing on his job status would send the wrong message to his team.
“As I preach to my players that I control what I can control in life,” he said, “that’s got to be my philosophy as well.”
President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and General Manager Rob Pelinka have “been great,” Walton said.
“They’ve been supportive,” he continued. “They obviously understand where we’re at as a team and what we’re trying to do and what our big picture is. When you’ve got a young team that’s battling and fighting, playing well and has some injuries and you get into the dog days of the NBA season, they’re both fully aware of what that’s like for our group.”
The Lakers played their past six games without starting point guard Lonzo Ball, who is expected to return to the court Friday. Center Brook Lopez, a former All-Star, recently missed eight games with a sprained ankle. Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been unable to be with the team for five road games out of the state due to court-issued travel restrictions.
It has been a bizarre season, one that would only get stranger if the Lakers actually considered parting with their coach.
The Lakers’ hiring of Walton in the summer of 2016 was regarded as a major coup for a fractured franchise. Only three years removed from his own playing career, the former Lakers champion has often been praised for replicating the environment that has buoyed the Golden State Warriors to two championships in three years.
His ability to relate to players is expected to be part of the Lakers’ sales pitch to top free agents next summer.
But then there are the results.
The Lakers finished 26-56 in Walton’s first season. At 11-26, they are slightly behind the pace they set a year ago, when they had won 12 games through 37 games.
It’s the kind of season his predecessors never would have survived. In fact, none of the previous three Lakers coaches held the position for more than two seasons.
Byron Scott’s contract was not renewed after his teams went 38-126 in two years; Mike D’Antoni resigned after his teams were 67-87 in parts of two seasons; and Mike Brown was fired five games into the 2013-14 campaign after starting 1-4. The previous season, Brown led the Lakers to a 41-25 record in the lockout-shortened season.
With Walton, however, a greater plan seems to be in place. All signs point to that plan including greater patience than his predecessors were allowed, even if this season has gone sideways as its mid-point nears.
Buss’s tweet came while the Lakers’ losing streak stood at five, before back-to-back defeats in Houston and Minnesota.
Any sign that they were considering removing the 37-year-old coach would sabotage the image of stability the Lakers are trying to present after years of turmoil.
Walton, who was friendly with Buss during his playing days, said her support has been invaluable.
“I like to give her updates and she’s been around this game for a long time,” he said. “She knows when to be supportive and she’s been really great to work with.”