The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

THE announcement that the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Luke Walton, a former standout player for the team, as its new head coach has set the National Basketball Association (NBA) abuzz and left many experts to speculate further on the future direction of the team.

Walton, the 26th head coach in team history and fourth since the departure of Phil Jackson in 2011, comes in with a major task ahead of him. The Lakers, a once proud franchise, has fallen on hard times in recent seasons. returning to the lottery for a third consecutive season.

However, while the arrival of Walton does come with great promise, there have to be questions about whether the hire comes on merit or only as a result of his name. While Walton does have the potential to be a great coach, his resume does not truly spell out the reasons for the hire.

It was only three seasons ago that Walton walked away from a 10-year injury-prone playing career with the Lakers and Cavaliers. While in the league, Walton was credited as a good role player who often operated as a coach on the court. Walton was often praised by Phil Jackson and Mike Brown for his acumen on and off the court. In fact, during the 2011 lockout season, Walton opted to spend his time away from the court as an assistant to University of Memphis head coach Josh Pastner.

In 2013, after announcing his retirement, Walton was hired as a player development coach for the Laker’s D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders. The following year, Walton moved on to the Golden State Warriors as an assistant to Steve Kerr.

While his qualities as a coach remained a mere rumour to this point, Walton was named interim head coach of the league-leading Warriors earlier this season as Kerr recovered from back surgery. This post acts as Walton’s calling card when questions arise about his coaching skill. His success in this position is truly commendable, but how much of it was on Walton and how much was as a result of championship team? Trying to dissect which part of the Warriors’ success belongs to Kerr and what belongs to Walton during this time is splitting hairs.

It has been argued in recent weeks that Walton’s coaching tactics were hugely drafted and formatted by Kerr, who, despite being away from the team stayed completely hands-on.

Walton coached the Warriors to a 24-0 win-loss record en route to a 39-4 record in Kerr’s absence. Looking at that record, while it is short, one has to understand that to a great effect Walton steered a easily manageable fleet. The Warriors were coming off a championship season and eager to prove that their unprecedented run was not a fluke.

From my standpoint, the highlight of Walton’s efforts doesn’t come in the form of the team’s success but in the respect he garnered from championship players.

In this new NBA, one filled with players that are more public figures than they are athletes, the respect players possess for their coaches often makes the difference between a successful squad and one that fails to meet expectations.

Walton was able to command respect from the likes of Stephen Curry, a league MVP who once got the best of Mark Jackson. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and all of the other quality players on the Warriors’ roster; all fell in line and followed the lead of Luke Walton.

This, in my opinion, was the crux of the Lakers’ decision to hire him as the team’s new coach.

Building a team around a youthful core is what the Lakers are facing now: the ability to put those players around a head coach who could relate and possesses recent success is something the Lakers couldn’t walk away from.

It is often an unwritten rule that the best assistant on the league’s best team moves on to a job of his own the next season. How many coaches have emerged out of the shadow of Gregg Popovich in recent years?

Steve Kerr is the Coach of the Year and Walton is considered his lead assistant; his hire was certainly expected by many. Whether Kerr coached through Walton for those first 43 games or not, it is almost certain that some of Kerr’s success rubbed off on him.

The Lakers, again in my opinion, now have at the helm a head coach that could demand the best of players. A coach that can relate to the young talent on the team’s bench. At best he is the captain that will steer the Lakers’ ship in the right direction. At worst, he becomes a stop gap that attracts quality young players to Los Angeles.

Either way, Walton will aid in the transformation of the Lakers.

• Ricardo Wells writes every Thursday on the NBA. Comments to rwells@tribunemedia.net