Despite all of the rumors surrounding his future with the team, Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Luke Walton, is focused on trying to win games.
The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to finish up the season strong after being eliminated from playoff contention once again. While not making the playoffs this season is a failure, the Lakers still have games to play.
This will certainly be an interesting offseason for the Lakers, as we might see a lot of change. One of the potential moves that they might make is to part ways with Luke Walton. So far with the Lakers, Walton has yet been able to reach the playoffs, with this season being his best chance.
However, due to all of the injuries to key players this season, it is easy to see why the Lakers missed the postseason. While the team being banged up for most of the season isn’t Walton’s fault, it could cost him his job in the offseason.
Recently, Walton talked about his job security and how he isn’t letting it affect him. Here is what he said via Christian Rivas of SilverScreenAndRoll.com.
"“We focus on what is important to us and the things that we can control. For players, the coaching staff, everyone. And that is that we have a job to do. It’s our job to come out, continue to work, continue to try to get better and continue to try to win ball games,” Walton said. “That’s what we give our time, our efforts and our thoughts to.”"
Like many players on the Lakers who are playing for their jobs, Walton is still coaching for his job at this point in the season. While Walton did have success with the Golden State Warriors as a head coach filling in for Steve Kerr, he hasn’t had that type of success with the Lakers.
While he should get a pass for the team not getting a lot of wins in previous years, the Lakers should have performed better this season. With the season ending soon, the Lakers will have to decide what to do with Walton. In all likelihood, Walton will not be brought back next season.
The Lakers appear like they are a team that needs a bit of an identity change, and that will likely come at the expense of Walton. However, he is still coaching to win games this season.