Subscribe
Follow Us
Jeannie Buss has already decried the supposed role “fake news” played in her team's labors throughout 2018-19. As the Los Angeles Lakers are about to embark on another long offseason, then, it's hardly surprising she's at least somewhat pushing back on countless recent reports that coach Luke Walton is on the verge of being dismissed.
Asked on Tuesday during her appearance on the Sports Business Radio Road Show if she would commit to Walton keeping his job through the offseason, Buss was noncommittal.
“I'm not going to give you the answer to that question,” she said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
However, Buss later expressed support for Walton, alluding to the Lakers' injury woes as a reason why they underachieved in 2018-19.
Article Continues Below
“And that's a challenge for a coach to constantly be changing lineups, and it's hard,” she said. “But we were in a position where things were all going in the right way, and we beat Golden State on Christmas Day, which was a great present for me, but then also LeBron (James) got hurt. So it really puts a lot of pressure on the coaching situation in terms of what he's able to do when he's short-handed with players.
“I think he is a hard worker, and he is somebody that players gravitate towards, and he's, I think, done an incredible job under a lot of challenging circumstances,” Buss continued.
Walton, 39, has two years remaining on his contract, only the first of which is guaranteed. He has a 61-103 record with Los Angeles since being hired two years ago as the hottest name on the coaching market.
Jason Kidd and Mark Jackson have previously been mentioned as potential replacements should the Lakers decide to part ways with Walton. Prior reporting indicated Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers would be interested in the Lakers' job if it became available, information he immediately squashed by publicly announcing his contract extension with the Clippers.
