Luke Walton will be the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Walton, the son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton and a two-time NBA champion with the Lakers, is currently an assistant coach to Steve Kerr for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Walton will head for LA after the Warriors finish their attempt to defend their crown in the 2016 postseason.
Walton has one of the best “asterisks” in the sports record books. Though he’s never technically been an NBA head coach, Walton did serve as interim head coach for the Warriors to start this season — as Steve Kerr sat out recovering from surgery. The asterisk is the fact that Walton has zero wins on his official NBA head coaching record, yet while he was acting head coach Walton won 39 games against just 4 losses — the second best start in history. Walton was named NBA Coach of the Month in November, after the Warriors started 24-o — which is the most consecutive wins to start a season in NBA history. All those wins are credited officially to Kerr. Walton starts his head coaching record in LA with a career 0-0 mark. The Lakers are highly unlikely to begin next season 24-0. Walton will miss the W’s.
