Luke Walton may have a fallback nearby in the event that he is shown the door by the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a piece for Forbes that was published on Tuesday, basketball insider Adam Zagoria quoted a UCLA source who listed Walton’s name among the potential candidates for the team’s head coaching job.
Per Zagoria:
One UCLA source threw out a bunch of names, including Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, TCU’s Jamie Dixon, Texas Tech’s Chris Beard and even potentially Lakers coach Luke Walton.
A second source was also quoted as saying that UCLA is going through “all the available candidates, some coaches that are coaching, some that aren’t.”
Walton, who is only 38, has brought the Lakers to a 22-19 record this season, despite not having LeBron James for the last seven games and counting due to a groin injury. However, Walton has still gone just 83-122 (.405) in three seasons as Lakers head coach and has yet to make a playoff appearance.
Interestingly enough, Walton has experience in the college ranks (he began his coaching career as an assistant for the University of Memphis in 2011) and in the Pac-12 in particular, having played for four years at Arizona. His father Bill is obviously one of the most beloved players in UCLA history as well and continues to call games for the school on ESPN. What’s more is that Walton, a former Golden State Warriors assistant, worked there with GM Bob Myers, a UCLA alum who is aiding the school in their head coaching search.
The Lakers’ contingent does expect Walton to finish the year as their coach, but it certainly couldn’t hurt for the Bruins to do their due diligence here.
