The Los Angeles Lakers have dominated the headlines ever since they signed LeBron James to a four-year, $154 million contract in free agency.
After five years of rebuilding through the NBA Draft, there are championship expectations in Los Angeles once again. Whether these type of expectations are fair in Year 1 with James, head coach Luke Walton is excited and does not feel any added pressure heading into the 2018-19 NBA season.
As Walton embarks on his third season as the team’s head coach, he discussed what sets the Lakers apart on “Connected With… Luke Walton,” via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We’re always relevant in my mind. Whether we win it or not, we’re relevant. It’s the Lakers. The greatest organization in basketball. For us, who are we as a team? What do we come down here and try to put in place? We want to be a physical team, we want to play fast, we want to thrive in competitive settings. We love competition. We want them to have a lot of fun. We want them to share the ball and be selfless. I mean, that’s who LeBron is. Everything I said describes who he is as a player. Now it just speeds up that process. We still know that it’s all about hard work. We still know that it’s coming in and putting that time in together, playing for one another. All the pieces in the world, you’re not going to get to where you want to get if you don’t put that time and work in. So we’re going to come in and approach it the same way we always do.”
During the worst stretch in franchise history, all eyes have still been on the Lakers whether it was good or bad. From Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour to LaVar Ball’s outspokenness, they have always remained relevant.
There was added buzz during the preseason, which the Lakers closed by winning back-to-back games against the Golden State Warriors. James and his new teammates showed flashes of brilliance, further fueling excitement for the year.
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