Lakers Rumors: Luke Walton was given chance to stay on as head coach

Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve former head coach Luke Walton, who was reportedly given a chance to remain as head coach.

Los Angeles Lakers rumors involving their head coaching situation have been plentiful. The Lakers head coaching position opened up when the team and Luke Walton decided to part ways.

The parting was reportedly mutual, but there were reports that Walton wanted to stay and was fired instead. However the decision was made, Walton didn’t last long on the unemployment line. Walton was quickly picked up by the Sacramento Kings, as Vlade Divac made him the No. 1 target to replace Dave Joerger.

Throughout the season Walton was on the hot seat. Very early on Magic Johnson made it clear that Walton wasn’t the type of coach that he wanted to lead his team. Rumors were rampant that Walton was going to be fired.

Owner Jeanie Buss was in Walton’s corner, so he remained on the job throughout the regular season. It was widely believed that Walton would be relieved of his duties once the regular season ended. However, the decision that Johnson made to resign from his position of president of basketball operations clouded things.

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Part of the reason that Johnson stepped down was because of the relationship he had with everyone involved. He did not want to fire Walton and upset Buss.

While Walton eventually left the Lakers’ sidelines, there was a chance that he could have stayed after Johnson left. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Walton was given a chance to remain as the team’s head coach.

"After former Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson stepped down in such stunning fashion on April 9, sources say Walton was given the chance to stay on as head coach in a subsequent meeting that included owner Jeanie Buss. But Walton, who was already aware that Buss had given Johnson the full authority to fire him and who had long harbored concerns about general manager Rob Pelinka’s style, was ready to head for the exits himself."

Walton made the right decision to get away from the Lakers given the current state of the organization. With Buss no longer fully in his corner and with his concerns about Rob Pelinka, it made sense for him to go to a different job.

Walton is now in a place that he was wanted with the Kings. Los Angeles will now be looking to find his replacement as Tyronn Lue, Monty Williams, Juwan Howard and Jason Kidd all interviewed or will be interviewing for the position.