The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2017-18 NBA season with the belief that they could surpass the achievements they had last season. As they continue to rebuild the team, the Lakers form a combination of veteran and young talents that could potentially bring them back to title contention. However, after suffering multiple injuries, they lost nine of their last 10 games, resulting in several issues to circulate around Los Angeles.
LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of Lakers’ rookie Lonzo Ball, has been blaming coach Luke Walton for the team’s recent struggle. Ball told ESPN ‘s Jeff Goodman that the Lakers are losing because players no longer want to play for Walton . Ball also called for Walton to be fired.
Several NBA personalities, including Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, came to defend Walton. Carlisle slammed some of the media for giving LaVar Ball the opportunity to criticized an NBA coach. Lonzo Ball’s fellow Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma also didn’t like LaVar’s comment and said that he loves playing for coach Luke Walton .
“Luke is my guy, I love playing for him.”
Despite hearing Ball’s criticisms, Walton just remains calm and focused on improving his team’s performance every game. After ending their nine-game losing streak against the Atlanta Hawks, the 37-year-old coach said that he subbed Ball out in the first quarter because his father’s talking “sh*t,” per Bill Oram of Orange County Register . Walton paused for a moment and told the media that he was just kidding.
Aside from the ongoing feud between Walton and Ball, there is also an issue on some of the Lakers’ players. According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News , some Lakers expressed their frustration in an obligatory team meeting on the play of power forward Julius Randle. Randle started the 2017-18 NBA season mostly coming off the bench but in the last six games, Walton brought him back to the starting lineup.
Isola believes the Lakers’ management is the one who ordered Walton to start Randle. Giving him quality time will enable him to showcase his talent which will strengthen his value as the February 8 trade deadline approaches. Randle has been the center of various NBA trade rumors since the Lakers decided not to give him a contract extension.
Aside from Randle, the Lakers are also planning to trade Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr ., according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN . The move will enable the Lakers to free enough cap space they could use in 2018 free agency. So far, the Lakers have already given up on moving Luol Deng and his expensive contract since it will force them to attach multiple draft assets.
