NBA Rumors: Erik Spoelstra Explains Why Luke Walton Is ‘Perfect Guy’ To Coach LeBron James, Lakers
Luke Walton is currently in his third year as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Unlike the first two, the 2018-19 NBA season is a tougher challenge for Walton, especially now that LeBron James is playing for the purple and gold. Coaching James adds more pressure and comes with a huge expectation.
When the team had a slow start, Magic Johnson admonished Luke Walton, urging him to address the issues as soon as possible. The Lakers somewhat managed to respond in a positive way as they have won six of their last 10 games. Even before the 2018-19 NBA season started, Walton tried to gather as much information as he could about coaching LeBron James.
Of course, there were no other better sources than James’ previous coaches, including Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra. Before the Heat faced the Lakers on Sunday night, Spoelstra revealed having a meeting with Luke Walton during the 2018 NBA offseason. Spoelstra has a strong belief that Walton is the “perfect guy” to coach LeBron and the Lakers.
“I told [Walton] the same thing I’ll tell everybody else,” Spoelstra said, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “He’s the perfect guy to coach that team. He has purple and gold bleeding from him. He is a Laker. He did a tremendous job with Golden State when he had to take over for Steve [Kerr]. And if you look at his whole professional career, all of [it] he has been involved with are teams like this with great expectations, with a lot of pressure and a lot of noise. He doesn’t know any different. I don’t think you can find a better fit to coach that team.”
Erik Spoelstra Says LeBron James Has Gotten a Lot of People Fired: https://t.co/fSOh36znUD
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) November 15, 2018
When LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the first time to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, Coach Erik Spoelstra and the Heat also struggled early in the season. However, after a 9-8 record, the Heat won 12 consecutive games and headed to the NBA Finals. Aside from being guided by a coach with a good background, Spoelstra believes the Lakers will be stabilized because of James’ greatness.
Spoelstra, who called LeBron “timeless,” said that James will be making a huge impact on both ends of the floor no matter what jersey he is wearing and how old he is. After making eight straight appearances in the NBA Finals, James will surely not let the Lakers end the 2018-19 NBA season without giving a tough fight. However, his road to the NBA Finals 2019 will be tougher as he first needs to beat the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors for Western Conference supremacy.
