In his first season as head coach of the Lakers, Luke Walton guided the purple and gold to a 26-56 record — marking a nine-win improvement from last season. In particular, the Lakers were strong at the bookend points of the season, winning half of their first 20 games and five of their last six.
Below is a summary of his exit interview with assembled media on Thursday:
- Walton expressed confidence in the job being done by President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and General Manager Rob Pelinka. While he expects them to continue trying to improve the roster in the short term, he also said, “I think they both believe in the young core that we have.”
-Almost each Laker expressed in his exit interview how much they like playing for Walton. But the head coach was simply happy that it means the culture is building and that they “enjoy coming to work and getting better.”
- The decision to tell Metta World Peace that he will likely not be retained for next season was a tough one for Walton, who called him “more than just a player I’ve coached. He’s a friend and an old teammate that I won a championship with.”
- Walton thinks that Brandon Ingram is “much better” than he was back in his playing days. As such, he wants him to work with Kobe Bryant over the offseason. “He can learn a lot from someone like Kobe who’s been through it and had a lot of skill at a lot higher level than me or anyone on my staff.”