Head Coach Luke Walton at LA Lakers Media Day at their El Segundo training facility. Photos by Brad Graverson/SCNG/The Daily Breeze/09-26-16

The laid-back Luke Walton went into cliche mode when the Lakers maintained with a straight face that matching off against his former employer does not mean anything more significant than competing against a non-descript opponent.

“I’ll take any win no matter who we’re playing,” Walton said. “I’ll take the win.”

Fair enough. Walton stressed he remains more worried about the Lakers (2-3) ensuring they maintain good habits when they host the Golden State Warriors (3-1) on Friday at Staples Center.

Still, Walton is also honest and competitive. And so when it comes toward coaching against the Warriors after serving as an assistant for the past two seasons…

“For non important reasons, yes it would be nice to win for when I talk to them on the phone or see them in the offseason,” Walton said. “There’s some trash talking to be done. But as far as what we’re trying to do as a group and a team, whether we win or lose this one is no different than any other game.”

Well, not quite.

“I hope they have success when we’re not playing them,” Walton said of the Warriors. “But tonight, I hope they all have terrible games and that we win.”
Continue reading “Luke Walton enjoys trash talking with Warriors” »

ATLANTA — The man standing at centercourt beforehand symbolized the Lakers’ intriguing future.

Rookie center Ivica Zubac embraced for his first NBA regular season start on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks after center Timofey Mozgov became sidelined with a left eye injury. That gave the Lakers hope their 32nd draft pick out of Croatia would grow with a major opportunity.

The man hanging on the rim beforehand symbolized the Lakers’ frustrating past.

Dwight Howard’s lone season four years ago with the Lakers provided headaches with back surgery limitations, personality clashes with Kobe Bryant, philosophical disagreements with Mike D’Antoni and a reluctance to play pick-and-roll with Steve Nash. Yet with Howard leaving the Lakers via free agency, his defection also marked the first of many star players no longer impressed with the purple and gold glitter.

That set up a delicious storyline between one of the Lakers’ most hated foes and one of their emerging fan favorites. All with the possible hope this could fuel long-term growth.

“Obviously it will be a tough matchup for him,” Lakers coach Luke Walton predicted. “But we have confidence that he can hold his own.”

Walton turned out to be clairvoyant.

In the Lakers’ 123-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday at Philips Arena, Howard showed why Walton still considers him “one of the best bigs in our game” by posting 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes. Zubac collected three of his four fouls in the first five minutes and 28 seconds of play. Still, Walton reported feeling “pleased with his effort” after Zubac also posted six points on a 3-of-3 clip and three rebounds in 18 minutes, 32 seconds.

“Dwight can do that to pretty much any big in the league, let alone a rookie that hasn’t seen anything like that before,” Walton said. “But he didn’t look nervous. He looked excited to be out there and he made some good plays.”
Continue reading “Ivica Zubac’s foul trouble does not sour mood in starting vs. Dwight Howard” »