Having spent a decade in the NBA, Luke Walton knows what the day-to-day grind is like for players.
An 82-game schedule — plus the potential for up to two added months of postseason play — can wear even the youngest and freshest of players down. That’s why, as an assistant at Golden State for the past two years, he and the rest of the Warriors coaching staff made a point to keep spirits up, whether it be playing music during warmups or canceling practice to go bowling.
Now he aims to bring that philosophy to Los Angeles as the new head coach of the Lakers.
“We’re going to put our stamp on the culture that we want,” Walton said at his introductory press conference on Tuesday. “It’s going to be joy. Our players are going to like coming into practice every day. We’re going to play a brand of basketball that the L.A. fans will appreciate. We’re going to compete.”
Walton’s prospective culture stands in contrast to the one established by his predecessor, Byron Scott, who preferred a style often described as “old-school” and “tough love.”
“I don’t know how that’ll be different from the previous two years because I wasn’t in here for those years,” Walton said. “But yes, there’s gonna be an emphasis on the culture going forward, and that’s going to be up to us and the staff that we bring in to hold the guys accountable and make them want to be a part of that.”
The Lakers hope Walton’s methods will suit the young core of players that he has adopted, including D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and — barring a trade — the No. 2 pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
The easy-going, yet notoriously competitive, Walton figures that a fun brand of basketball will lead to on-court results.
“To me, you succeed as a coaching staff when you can give your players more and more freedom,” Walton said. “Even though that may look like you’re doing less coaching, that means they’re taking ownership for what they’re doing. And when they’re taking ownership they get mad when they mess up.
“You have to make it fun for them. Basketball’s meant to be a game of joy. And if you can provide that environment and make guys want to come in and bust their tail every day in practice and work harder because they’re enjoying it, then they look forward to coming in the gym every day.”
Walton has seen these Lakers enjoy themselves before — at his own expense when they thumped the 73-win Warriors, 112-95, on March 6. Now, he is hoping that they have more fun times like that.
“They beat us this year,” Walton said. “They’re one of the few teams that knocked us off this year, and you could see that joy in them when they did it. They were running up and down and playing a fun brand of basketball.”
