Luke Walton named head coach of Warriors ..... Wow!

OK..... what's a little bait and switch amongst LB members? :magicsmile:That would be "Interim" head coach. Kerr's back is jacked up and he has to rehab. Props to Luke.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/steve-...leave-of-absence-from-warriors-223218076.html

Steve Kerr's injured back forces leave of absence from Warriors

By Marc J. Spears3 hours agoYahoo Sports

Golden State Warriors on Thursday as he normally does at the start of practice. But the Warriors are uncertain when their head coach will be around again as he has taken a leave of absence to focus on rehabilitation and recovery from two offseason back surgeries.


"It's tough," Warriors center Andrew Bogut told Yahoo Sports after Thursday’s practice. "He needs to address it now. You don't want that thing popping up in December or January again. It's much like if someone had a knee problem or someone was hurt right now, he is going to be watching practice and not doing anything.

"It's the same for Coach Kerr. We're thankful we know our [offensive] sets and have a good enough coaching staff that we can adapt on the fly. It gives us a bit of a different look."

Kerr underwent surgery in late July to repair a ruptured disc in his back and had a follow-up surgery in September. Warriors general manager Bob Myers said Thursday he was uncertain when Kerr would return to the bench, but added "hopefully soon." Second-year Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton will be the interim head coach during Kerr's absence.

"You can tell he is not himself," Bogut said about Kerr. "He has been here the past two days, but he wasn't moving around well and he was sitting down every five or 10 minutes."

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Myers said Kerr could attend practices, but probably would not participate in coaching on the court until he fully returns. He added that most of Kerr's rehab would take place away from the Warriors. Myers also told Yahoo Sports he doesn't plan on hiring another assistant coach during Kerr's absence.

In Kerr's first year as coach last season, the Warriors won an NBA-best and franchise-record 67 games and their first championship since 1975. Kerr lives in San Diego during the offseason, but will continue his back rehab in the Bay Area.

"He knows himself. He knows what it takes to coach an entire NBA season," Myers said. "[The return] will be his decision. As an organization we support him and want him to get better. And we know he will. We're confident he will. It's just a matter of when."

Walton coached the Warriors' summer league team this year, but has never served as an NBA head coach. The 10-year NBA veteran played as recently as the 2012-13 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. New Warriors consultant Steve Nash, who attended his first practice Thursday, could help out more during Kerr's absence.

Bogut said he wasn't concerned about Kerr's absence because they "have one of the best coaching staffs in the league." The Warriors, however, lost associate head coach Alvin Gentry, now the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, during the offseason.

"We got a team full of vets now," Walton said. "They know what we are trying to accomplish and they are trying to accomplish the same thing. It makes stepping into that role a lot easier. I have great relationships with everyone on our team. It's not like I'm going to try to do anything different than what Steve did."

Said Myers: "We're confident in Steve’s absence that [Walton] will step up and do a wonderful job for however long that may be."

 

Referring to L. Walton...start the hype train!!!

 

Oooops meant to put this in NBA talk. Am in big trouble now ...... :dwightcry:

 

Being both Bill Walton and Phil Jackson's son obviously gave him the basketball coaching gene. It will be interesting to keep an out for him. We already have a spot for him, it's currently called Madsen. Anytime he wants it, no questions asked.

 

I'm a huge Luke Walton fan... really hope this works out for him.

 

Some players who aren't blessed with the athleticism of the stars have to succeed by being smarter than others. I'm sure a guy like Kerr recognized that in him, and I'm sure Walton will do a nice job.

This is almost as big as him tricking the Lakers F.O. Into giving him the MLE for a few years.

 

Woah ..... Luke's mom! :magicsmile: Don't forget RandleROFY, LukeWaltonsdad in his past life.

 

i'd imagine you learn a lot playing under phil for all those years. particularly when you're coming off the bench. also helps he's the son of a hall of famer

best of luck luke

 

Great college coach with Lute Olsen as well at Arizona

From his Wiki Page:

Was curious who else he played under, and the only other team he played with was the Cavaliers. Looks like he played under both Byron Scott and Mike Brown.

I was surprised to find this article on how much Jerry Buss left him from his estate though.

 

:headscratch:

 

Great opportunity for him and will give him the chance to audition. If he's as good of a coach as you'd think he'd be, I'd gladly welcome here in LA when he's prepared for the big time.

 

Congrats Luke for winning Coach of the Month with a 0-0 coaching record lol

 

Luke... start prepping for moving in to Byron's office...

 

Please come and save us Luke. At this point probably anyone would be better than Bryon, it seems obvious that he has lost the team.

 

Kobe Bryant and Luke Walton are my two All-Time favourite Lakers. I imagine the chances are next to nil, but if Walton was somehow named our next coach I would be ECSTATIC. They'd have to scoop him up immediately this off-season though, 'cause I'm guessing he's getting a HC job somewhere this summer.

 

It's a travesty Philly has more wins than Luke Walton at this point of his coaching career.

They're now 20-0. If he doesn't get any head coaching gig offers later on, I'd be disappointed.