The Los Angeles Lakers are underdoing a major paradigm shift as an organization right now, and head coach Luke Walton will be the first to admit that it’s a difficult process.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Walton acknowledged that the team is in a “hard spot as a group” with all the change that has been going on lately, per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.
Luke Walton acknowledged team is in a 'hard spot as a group' between shutting down most of vets + upper management changes…
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 16, 2017
The last several weeks have seen Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka ascend to the helm of the Lakers in a major front office shakeup as well as veterans Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng, who are both healthy and whom the team committed a combined $136 million to just this past summer, being shut down for the remainder of the season. And that’s not even to mention the ugly in-fighting that is currently plaguing ownership.
The Lakers have one of the youngest rosters in the league and its second-worst record at the moment. For Walton, who is himself a rookie head coach and has often been open about his frustration this year, it makes perfect sense why he may be feeling overwhelmed.
