Los Angeles Lakers rumors put any uncertainty surrounding Luke Walton to rest, as it is being reported he isn’t going anywhere.
There have been plenty of Los Angeles Lakers rumors recently, plenty of which have revolved around the team’s roster. Los Angeles made two trades prior to the NBA Trade Deadline, opening up a roster spot in the process.
As a result, Lakers rumors have persisted about who could potentially fill that roster spot that has been opened up. Carmelo Anthony has been rumored as a potential target, along with Markieff Morris, who was traded by the Washington Wizards to the New Orleans Pelicans at the deadline and subsequently released.
However, the Lakers rumors have that persisted for the longest involve head coach, Luke Walton.
Throughout the season, there have been plenty of rumors about Walton’s job. LeBron James‘ camp reportedly wanted a coaching change at the end of January. Earlier in the season, Walton seemed to be on the hot seat as it was reported he needed to start winning games or his job would be at risk. A potential replacement in Jason Kidd was named recently.
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However, all of that talk was put to rest by Jeanie Buss. Buss is in Walton’s corner, saying she had faith in him despite the team’s struggles. That faith had to have been tested during this road trip.
The Lakers recent six-game road trip was not a good one. The team went 2-4 as the defensive performance has cratered without Lonzo Ball on the court. Teams were scoring at will against Los Angeles, giving them a very slim chance to win games.
The tipping point came in the last game of that trip. The Lakers lost to the Atlanta Hawks in an embarrassing performance. It seemed that Walton’s seat was really heating up as the lowly Hawks defeated the Lakers 117-113.
With the All-Star break coming up, it seemed like a logical time for a coaching change to be made. The team would have some time to adjust to a leader on the bench. However, that change will not be happening.
According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Walton’s coaching job is safe despite the loss to the Hawks and losing road trip.
Luke Walton's Lakers coaching job is safe in wake of loss to Hawks https://t.co/5SePxyICx0
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) February 13, 2019
"There have been no internal discussions about Lakers coach Luke Walton’s job status in the wake of the team’s loss to the lowly Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly on the sensitive matter.“Nothing is going to happen with Luke,” one person said. “There hasn’t even been any talk about it and there won’t be any talks about it. Luke will definitely finish the season and he has the full support. So any talk in the media or on social media can be put to bed about Luke. He’s not going anywhere. There has been no conversation about it.”"
This should help the team throughout the rest of the season. There has been a lot of distractions surrounding the Lakers in recent weeks, some of which has been self-inflicted.
While Walton has his shortcomings, this is one less distraction for the team to worry about. Instead of worrying about who will be coaching the team, they know that Walton will be that man.
With 25 games remaining in the season, it is time for the Lakers to buckle down and start winning some games. They are getting healthier and will have their full allotment of players soon.
Walton will be leading them those last 25 games, which is good news as a change in the middle of the season probably would not have yielded great results.