The Los Angeles Lakers worked extremely hard to convince LeBron James to sign with them this offseason, but apparently they did not need any help from their head coach.
Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports reports that LeBron had “zero contact” with Luke Walton while the Lakers were recruiting the four-time NBA MVP. As of Wednesday, the two reportedly still had not met.
A source close to #LeBron tells me that Bron had zero contact w/#Lakers head coach Luke Walton throughout the Lakers’ entire recruitment process. “LeBron never met Luke at all,” source says — and they still have not met. Walton will be James’ seventh full-time NBA head coach.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 4, 2018
Walton is only five years older than James, and he was hired as the Lakers’ coach when they were looking to rebuild with a young roster. It remains to be seen how he will handle coaching one of the biggest icons in NBA history, but the Lakers’ front office will almost certainly go in another direction if LeBron decides he doesn’t want to play for Walton.
We have already seen examples of how much respect LeBron has for the Lakers organization, and that should include the head coach. Him not having to meet with Walton probably says more about how much he wanted to play for L.A. than anything.
