Luke Walton has seemingly the right mix in the locker room!
What makes Luke Walton’s job so difficult is the roster that was put together by the Lakers front office. Magic Johnson brought in numerous veteran free agents on one-year deals.
To put this in perspective here’s how difficult a situation Luke Walton is in.
NBA players that are playing on a one year deal are playing for their next contract. This is a difficult circumstance on a veteran team much less a team where the vision going forward is to give young players the majority of the minutes. The veterans have to sacrifice minutes (and potential money down the line!) for the bigger picture.
Tyson Chandler broke this down to Allen Sliwa on “Lakers Talk” on ESPN Radio.
"”I think he’s doing a great job… (His job is) very difficult. Him and ‘Bron are the same draft class, I was before both of them. When you have that being the case, and you have a guy that thinks the game the way he does in LeBron, that’s not easy. It’s not easy to coach, it’s not easy to lead in that case, because he’s so smart, he’s so intelligent, he’s so good. “The great thing and the balance is — and I think that’s what Luke is figuring out, I think he’s doing a great job — is you know when to push and when to step back and let players just be great. I think he’s done an excellent job with that balance. “He’s also given us vets a huge voice in the locker room. I think he respects what we bring to the table and he picks our brains. It’s just about that balance and I think he’s done a great job of pushing when he needs to push, and then stepping back.”"
This is a glowing endorsement from Tyson Chandler. Plus, it carries a lot of weight considering that his signing, in my opinion, saved the Lakers season and Luke Walton’s job. As for the proper balance that Luke Walton has to navigate, that will come with time. The $64.00 question is…will the front office give him that time? Who knows.
You know, it is interesting that LeBron James’ name came up. Let’s talk about that dynamic shall we?