Luke Walton’s first full-time head coaching job with the Lakers has not found the same success as the little interim appointment he had with the Warriors last year. Of course, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green kind of helped that substitute job along. But with a roster laden with young and learning Lakers, Walton has a few impressive tools to aid the process.
Magic Johnson is on board with the Lakers again, recently named an advisor to co-owner Jeanie Buss. And Walton still has his former coach, Phil Jackson, on speed dial for any coaching advice.
And no, Walton sees no problem with calling Jackson.
“I’ve got all the respect in the world for Phil,” Walton said before the Knicks and Lakers played at the Garden on Monday. “From my side of it, there’s nothing awkward at all. I have no problem reaching out to him.”
Just think of it as one student reaching out to a former professor, even if the teacher is waist deep in his own problems.
“It’s great, especially as a young coach,” said Walton, who employed a new front-court starting alignment — Brandon Ingram, Tarik Black and Julius Randle — Monday. “We’re struggling to win games.”
There’s a lot of that going around. Ask the Knicks, ask the Nets.
“There are some things that I think we’re doing right and if I can call Phil and get his opinion or his thoughts on something, it’s a pretty reassuring thing if he agrees or gives you advice on something,” Walton said.
And the same goes with Magic. The Hall of Famer has been involved with the game at virtually every level, including ownership. And Walton sees no problem having Johnson address his players.
“No, because I plan on being in contact with him. If there’s messaging that needs to get across then I’m sure we’ll talk about it. This is something that we’re going to do as a group and there’s some things that when we talk, we might disagree on but remove yourself from the situation I might say, ‘Hey if Magic Johnson thinks that D’Angelo Russell needs to do this from the point-guard position,’ I might change our position on it and roll with that,” Walton said.
“He’s got a whole different perspective he can share with these young guys. Being that he was a point guard but also doing it at his size he can talk to D’Angelo about what it’s like running a team and all those things that come with being a point guard. He can talk to Brandon about being a taller player that we run at the point.
“Obviously thrilled to have him. The Lakers are showing we’re committed to getting back on top. And bringing someone in like Magic with his championship experience, being one of the all-time great players to be around and bounce ideas off and brainstorm different things with is only going to help,” Walton said.
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