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Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Big questions heading into the 2018-19 Season

Donny McHenry|
EL SEGUNDO, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Head Coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to the media after practice at UCLA Health Training Center on September 25, 2018 in El Segundo, 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Head Coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to the media after practice at UCLA Health Training Center on September 25, 2018 in El Segundo, 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 04: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles talks with LeBron James #23 during a pre-season basketball game against Sacramento Kingsat Staples Center on October 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, 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 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Luke Walton’s Job Security

One question that may just be the media over analyzing is the question of whether or not LeBron James and the Lakers brass will continue to trust Luke Walton as head coach.

There’s no question that Walton will have the highest expectations he’s had as he enters his third year coaching. Having a guy named LeBron James around does that sort of thing. In addition to just the overall media scrutiny and expectations that will put pressure on Walton, LeBron has always been rumored to sort of butt heads with his coaches. LeBron will get players shipped out if he feels they aren’t going to contribute to a championship. Head coaches aren’t safe from this either, as the firing of David Blatt was largely attributed to LeBron wanting to get Tyronn Lue in as the head coach in Cleveland.

There’s definitely pros and cons in regards to Walton. He does seem to resonate with the players as a “players’ coach”, which isn’t too surprising when you think about given the fact that he’s 38-years-old (for reference, LeBron is 33-years-old). He also emphasizes defense which is refreshing in the run-and-gun, shoot-threes-all-day brand of NBA basketball that has become the norm. He also has one of the best basketball backgrounds you can find, being the son of NBA great Bill Walton and coming from the Golden State Warriors coaching staff.

He can, however, be scrutinized in regards to his offensive schemes. The biggest critic of this is B-Ball Index E.I.C. “Cranjis McBasketball” (as he’s known on Twitter). Here’s a couple of his most recent tweets regarding Walton and his offense.

Whether or not LeBron ends up deciding that Walton isn’t fit to be his coach for this year or the next 2-3 years after that, there’s no doubt that Magic Johnson, Jeanie Buss, and Rob Pelinka have shown nothing but unwavering support for the young head coach.

We will see what conversations are held throughout the year regarding Walton, but all of these questions are very important to the Lakers overall success this year. It’ll be interesting to see how all four play out.

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