Shortly before tipoff Tuesday night, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton was inundated with text messages.
The news was of a somber nature: Lamar Odom, Walton’s longtime former teammate, was hospitalized after being found unconscious at a Nevada brothel. In the wake of Golden State’s 114-103 exhibition loss to Denver, Walton admitted that it’s “hard to focus on a lot of other things right now.”
“Lamar is a brother to me,” he said. “I absolutely love that man. My prayers are with him. It’s tough thinking about him just laying there.”
Walton and Odom grew close playing together on the Los Angeles Lakers for seven seasons (2004-11).