The Los Angeles Lakers, just a few months removed from adding LeBron James in free agency, are almost certainly going to miss the playoffs. This has led a skewering of the entire organization, from the players to the front office, but it still feels like most of the blame is being laid at the feet of head coach Luke Walton.
Lakers president Magic Johnson dressed down Walton after a slow start to the 2018-2019 campaign, and it’s widely expected that Walton will lose his job when the Lakers season comes to its disappointing conclusion. To be fair to Walton, he hasn’t exactly been working with a full toolkit. A prolonged injury to James, when the Lakers were No. 4 in the West, set the Los Angeles into a spiral, and injuries to Lonzo Ball and now Brandon Ingram have only made things worse.
Johnson’s offseason signings of guys like Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee and Lance Stephenson have been heavily criticized, and now comes a report that Johnson did so against the pleas of Walton and the rest of his coaching staff. From The Athletic:
While Buss has been an ardent backer of Walton, she has also empowered Johnson, who has been less resolute in his support. His efforts have all worked against his coach rather than with him. After delivering James in July, Johnson ignored the pleas of the coaching staff that he retain Brook Lopez and Julius Randle. Instead, he signed controversial and limited journeymen JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson.
Lopez has been a key member of the Milwaukee Bucks, shooting nearly 37 percent from deep and helping to stretch the floor for the team with the best record in the NBA. After four years of toiling in L.A., Randle is now averaging 20 points per game for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Lopez and Randle remaining on the Lakers roster probably wouldn’t solve all their problems. But Beasley is no longer a Laker and Stephenson is contributing just 7 points per game. There’s a lot of things that have gone wrong in Hollywood this season, but Johnson’s roster construction, and refusal to unequivocally back Walton as coach, have played a big part in this disaster.
