While Everyone is Writing Lakers Coach Luke Walton Off, He Thinks He’s Sticking Around

There have been plenty of rumors as well as speculation as to who is going to be on the bench next season for the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James, as everyone seems to already write the eulogy for now head coach Luke Walton.

If you check https://mad-betting.com/ you will see a variety of names that are mentioned for the post as head coach of the Lakers for next season, with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue just the latest to be mentioned to take over the job.

Walton’s name has been mentioned over and over to be replaced, but the head coach seems to feel that he’s not going anywhere, and that he is going to stay as the Lakers head coach even into next season.

The third-year coach doesn’t sound like a man on the hot seat, as has been rumored for months.

“I fully expect to be coaching this team again next year,” Walton told Bill Oram of The Athletic.

“I just view it as outside noise unless someone from within tells me that that happened,” Walton said.

“Unless someone from within our group is telling me that, I just view it like all the other things we’ve gone through as a team this year.

“Those are things that I don’t have the time to worry about. I’ve got more important things to do like getting the team better and doing my job.”

It is going to be an interesting offseason for the Lakers, who are right now nine games under .500 sitting at 33-42, out of the chance for a playoff spot in the NBA’s Western Conference.

The team is going to have to win three of its final games this season to surpass the 35 victories it amassed last season.

Before this season, the Lakers had improved by nine victories in each of Walton’s first two seasons at the helm, but with a ton of injuries, as well as the hoopla with the team landing the best player in the game in James, the team has not been able to do enough to even make the playoffs as the eighth-seed in the NBA’s Western Conference.

It seems that Walton has been dealt a raw deal with this Lakers team, as even with James there were nowhere near good enough to challenge a veteran team like the Golden State Warriors or an upstart team like the Denver Nuggets for the top spot in the conference.

Instead, Walton may lose his job over it, but in the end it’s all about wins and losses, and it will be interesting to see what decision owner Jeanie Buss and the team makes.

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