While Luke Walton was entrusted as the head coach to usher the Los Angeles Lakers through a rebuild, the signing of LeBron James brought about early rumblings over his job security.
Beyond a stigma attached to James that he can be the root cause behind a coach losing his job, there were some who questioned whether Walton was capable of leading a team with vastly different expectations. Add to it that he was not selected by the current Lakers front office, and there was more reason to wonder about Walton.
Despite assertions from president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka that there would be room for a learning curve, the Lakers’ 2-5 start to the season led to Johnson admonishing Walton in a meeting.