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After a nine-game skid, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally won a game. Luke Walton's squad was able to get the best of the visiting Atlanta Hawks at the Staples Center on Sunday night despite the added distraction of LaVar Ball's comments about the head coach earlier in the day.
Walton continues to get criticized by Lonzo Ball's father about his coaching style, and on Sunday he took it even further. LaVar claims Walton has lost the Lakers players at this point and they no longer want to play for the second-year head coach. LaVar's comments about the team and its head coach have without a doubt become a bit of a distraction in Los Angeles.
Following the win over the Hawks, Walton talked about distractions surrounding the storied franchise and its players. Walton explained the message he's given to his players throughout this season.
“Well it's not just tonight, it's the message you send all year long,” Walton said. “That's why it's important not to get too high or too low throughout the season. The message is … yes we play in L.A., yes we are one of the greatest sports organizations in the world, yes we have an incredible fan base, and yes there's a lot of distractions outside the game of basketball when you play in this city for this team, because of the history they have.”
Walton went on to describe the message and what his players should be doing when it comes to off-the-floor distractions throughout the NBA season.
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“We need to focus our energy and our minds on what we're doing, and that's the message we send every day,” Walton explained. “Don't worry about what people on Twitter are saying, don't worry about what this media outlet is saying or that one, or your agent. The people that matter to what we're trying to do are all in our room, so we have to be able to trust each other. We have each other's backs, and we work together. That's obviously not always going to be 100 percent true, but that's the messaging all year long. Don't let outside influences influence what we're doing, that's it. There wasn't any difference today than the day before. Our guys did a good job.”
Despite all the noise created by LaVar's controversial comments ahead of Sunday's game, the team prevailed with an impressive victory over the Hawks, 132-113.
Although beating Atlanta isn't anything to cheer about considering they've only won 10 games this season, the fact the team was able to brush off the distractions, focus, and put together a solid effort to snap the skid means Walton's message may be getting through to his players.
The Lakers will try to keep it going on Tuesday as they'll play the Sacramento Kings at the Staples Center before hosting the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
