When LeBron James announced that he would be signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, a number of questions immediately emerged. One of the main ones was how Lakers head coach Luke Walton, the youngest coach in the league, would handle the pressure that comes with coaching James.
Walton has had his growing pains in his first two seasons as Lakers coach, but expectations are now much higher. Additionally, James has sometimes had issues with coaches leading some to wonder what kind of relationship the two will have.
“Give me some time, please. Give me some time,” James said when pressed on how he and Walton are existing. I think it’s going to continue to grow over time, just like with all the coaches I’ve had in my career.
“If you’d have asked me what my relationship would be with my first high school coach when I was in the ninth grade, I’d have told you, ‘Terrible,’ because he cussed us out every single day in practice. But our relationship grew more and more and he probably ended up being the best coach I ever played for.”
From the moment James joined the Lakers there have been questions about Walton’s future. The belief was that James would want his own hand-picked coach. That hasn’t been the case as the Lakers have backed Walton, even saying that a bad start would mean nothing to his job security.
So far the two seem to be on the same page, both noting that they expect the Lakers to play at a fast pace with James even comparing it to the style he played while with the Miami Heat. As time goes on, the two will surely work hard to develop a relationship that works for both of them.
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