When the Los Angeles Lakers brought in Luke Walton in 2016, the team was coming off its worst season in franchise history. During that organization-worst stretch, they were led by an old school, hard-nosed head coach in Byron Scott, whose methods of player development — or lack thereof — drew heavy criticism from the fanbase and ultimately led to him losing his job.
In Walton, the Lakers were getting a young head coach — the youngest in the league, in fact — who could boast championship pedigree as both a player in Los Angeles and a coach up north with the Golden State Warriors, a team that set the standard for how modern basketball should be played.