Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton doesn't believe there needs to be a pecking order on his team.
Obviously, LeBron James is the best player and No. 1 option on the roster. The Lakers, however, don't have a clear-cut No. 2 option on offense, which has been evident ever since James went out with the groin injury he suffered on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors.
Luke Walton wants his guys to play as a cohesive unit, even when LeBron returns to the lineup, instead of playing “my-turn” basketball on offense:
“There shouldn't be a pecking order,” Walton told Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It should be playing and making the right plays, and that's what we preach.
“Those guys are all very gifted players and there's nights that they're going to want to score and there's certain nights one of them will be hot and other nights the other one will be hot. We have to just continue to just play with the main goal being the team.”
Before the season started, many thought forward Brandon Ingram would be the secondary scorer on the Lakers after James, but the former No. 2 overall pick has had an up-and-down season. Kyle Kuzma is currently the second-leading scorer on the team, as the swingman is averaging 18.2 points per game. Ingram is third on the club, posting 16.5.
The Lakers enter Wednesday with a record of 22-19, good for eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Follow Us
Subscribe