The first move the Los Angeles Lakers made this offseason was the decision to move on from Byron Scott and bring in Luke Walton as the new head coach of the team. After finishing up his duties as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, Walton was officially introduced by the Lakers on Tuesday.
Walton spoke about a number of things in his introductory press conference and one of the more interesting had to do with the offensive system he plans on bringing to the Lakers.
While Walton said that a coach must craft a system to fit the players he has on his team, he made also made sure to say that the Lakers will play a style that the fans will enjoy according to Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation:
Luke Walton: “We’re going to play a brand of basketball that the LA fans will appreciate. We’re going to compete.” (via @TWCSportsNet)
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) June 21, 2016
Walton also used the word ‘joy’ a lot in his press conference, and said that he plans on making the game fun for the Lakers according to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell:
Walton: “You have to make it fun for them. Basketball is supposed to be a game of joy."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) June 21, 2016
There were certainly a lot of positive things to take away from Walton’s press conference, but he surely said all of the right things and seems to have excited the fan base with what he hopes to bring to the franchise.
The Lakers are armed with the number two draft pick and plenty of money to spend in free agency. Combining that with the young talent already on the roster and what Walton will bring from a coaching standpoint should give the Lakers faithful plenty to look forward to next year.