Luke Walton is 31 years old and still has two years left on his NBA contract, but that hasn’t stopped him from working on a potential career after his playing days are over. Walton is joining the Memphis Tigers basketball program as an assistant coach, pending approval by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
Walton will be the third assistant coach on the Memphis staff and he’ll hold the position until the NBA lockout ends. He’ll join former Arizona teammate Josh Pastner, who is the team’s head coach, and serve on the staff along with former Wildcats Damon Stoudamire and Jack Murphy.
In a statement announcing the hire, Pastner said “Luke will be a great coach because he brings a wealth of knowledge and a winning attitude to the Tigers program. His experiences, which include playing in four NBA Finals and winning two NBA World Championships, are lessons that he can share with our players to help them grow and develop their games.”
Walton now joins Kevin Durant and Anthony Randolph as someone with unusual, yet awesome lockout plans. It’s hard to know if this is a role where Walton will be successful considering his lack of experience, but you have to figure it’s a precursor to a future coaching career.
