Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Biggest reasons for the disappointing season
4. The Coaching Staff
Obviously, the coaching staff did not have its best season, because now Luke is the head coach with a different rival franchise. Walton never really seemed like he had control of the team because of the weird mixture of veterans and young players, and it definitely snowballed on him this season.
When James decided to make the leap to Hollywood, it almost seemed inevitable to people who have seen the LeBron show, that Walton was going to be fired. James has had coaches shipped off in the past, and some expected him to come in and pick his guy as the new coach, especially if the team failed to have success early on.
Walton also had a legit gripe with the roster construction, because he wanted to keep certain free agents on the roster that fit his schemes better, like Julius Randle and Brook Lopez because they had proven to have success in the system already. Going against his wishes, the Lakers’ front office elected to go with guys like Rajon Rondo and Michael Beasley to replace them and it hurt Walton’s schemes.
So, Luke was dealt a bad hand from the get go, but he did not do much to make an argument to keep his job throughout the season. His rotations were never consistent and constantly questioned by the media and fans and it seemed like his monotone message eventually got tuned out by the roster.
It was perhaps never more evident than in a mid-season story after a loss to the Warriors in which veteran players got into it with Walton and were reportedly calling him “bro.” The word bro definitely does not imply respect and almost makes it seem like the players felt like an equal to Walton.
"“The confrontation, earlier reported by The Athletic, was “heated,” according to a source but calmed down rather quickly. Beasley, who also got into a verbal spat on the sideline with Walton during the Lakers’ 138-128 overtime victory in Oklahoma City just more than two weeks ago, repeatedly referred to Walton as “bro” during the exchange Saturday, which touched a nerve with the coach, a source told ESPN.”"
Walton never really seemed to have the respect from the team’s best player, maybe because he never respected his game fully when he played in his era, and that rubbed off on the rest of the team. Walton once made sense as a young coach ready to grow with a young talented team, but that dramatically changed when LeBron showed up and actual expectations arose.