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Los Angeles Lakers: Why Luke Walton should remain head coach

By Dominic Torres

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Golden State Warriors during an NBA basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 22, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Golden State Warriors during an NBA basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 22, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
ONTARIO, CA – OCTOBER 9: (Photo by Juan Ocampo/Getty Images) /

Let Him Coach

An unwritten rule in basketball is that a team often does well because its front office is stable. Stability initiated when the Zen Master Phil Jackson commandeered the Lakers to five championships during Kobe Bryant’s 20-year tenure in Los Angeles.

After his retirement from coaching, the Lakers went through years of Mike Brown, Mike D’Antoni, and Bryon Scott. None of them have been entirely successful.

Enter Luke Walton, a valiant man intent on determining his future on the basis of strategy and leading a franchise needing to find its niche in the future.

In Golden State, Walton and Kerr experienced a swift change in the power forward slot in 2015. As injured David Lee recovered in the beginning of the season, Draymond Green emerged as a true rival to his position.

Nonetheless, Luke decided to continue to stack minutes on top of Green. Lee bounced around the league, while Green became and is the Warriors’ emotional leader and the cornerstone of their intensity.

Luke is under the same pressure in Los Angeles. Imagine struggling to decide on who to start over whom in a balanced team trying to find its identity. However, everyone has upside and downside, and it is extremely hard to juggle that out during the season.

The Lakers have an imminent power forward problem. Julius Randle, Larry Nance, and Kyle Kuzma are talents that could develop into an amazing player one day. Who Walton believes is the best fit for his system creates major implications.

Firing Walton further disintegrates the locker room mess that is already there, to begin with. Whoever the new coach deals with may infuriate others (favoring Kuzma over Randle, etc.)

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