Someone played "I Love L.A." very loudly behind closed doors toward the end of the Golden State Warriors' practice.
It had everything to do with Luke Walton, the new Lakers coach.
He's still an assistant coach with the Warriors through their playoff run but already being tied to the happy-go-lucky song that always symbolizes good times for the Lakers.
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Championship times in the future too, Walton hopes.
The 36-year-old agreed to a five-year deal worth about $25 million Friday with the Lakers. Despite their 17-65 finish this season, Walton was all smiles Saturday after the music, and Warriors practice, ended.
He has wanted the Lakers' job for as long as he could remember. It's finally his.
"I played for the Lakers and I feel part of that family. It's kind of nice to be able to go back and try to help rebuild what we used to have there," Walton said
meone played "I Love L.A." very loudly behind closed doors toward the end of the Golden State Warriors' practice.
It had everything to do with Luke Walton, the new Lakers coach.
He's still an assistant coach with the Warriors through their playoff run but already being tied to the happy-go-lucky song that always symbolizes good times for the Lakers.
See the most-read stories in Sports this hour>>
Championship times in the future too, Walton hopes.
The 36-year-old agreed to a five-year deal worth about $25 million Friday with the Lakers. Despite their 17-65 finish this season, Walton was all smiles Saturday after the music, and Warriors practice, ended.
He has wanted the Lakers' job for as long as he could remember. It's finally his.
"I played for the Lakers and I feel part of that family. It's kind of nice to be able to go back and try to help rebuild what we used to have there," Walton said
Walton's lifetime coaching record in the NBA, however, is 0-0. Per league rules, he did not receive credit for his 43-game run as the Warriors' interim coach. All the victories went to Kerr.
Just the same, Walton tied for eighth in coach-of-the-year voting. Kerr won it.
Even though Walton's duties aren't quite done at Golden State, he had thoughts on each of the four young Lakers, starting with Russell.
"He has very high potential. To me, he can be a perennial All-Star," Walton said. "He has the vision that you want your point guard to have. He sees the floor. Once they put him in the starting lineup, he naturally got a little more aggressive."
Walton liked how Russell could score not only on three-pointers but in the post and on spot-up midrange shots.
"I think there's so much natural ability there that if he puts in the work and is committed to wanting to be great, he can be a great point guard in this league," Walton added.
At power forward, can Randle mimic some of Green's success as a distributor, scorer and rebounder?
"I see it," Walton said. "Honestly, Julius can give us the freedom to do a lot of things because of his size and quickness. If he can develop other aspects of his game, that allows us to go small with him at center because he's strong enough to cover centers.
"That kid averaged 10 rebounds a game as pretty much a rookie? That's insane. This is a grown-man league. For someone in their first year playing to do that is obviously a big advantage to have."
Walton likes how Randle pushes the ball after taking defensive rebounds but knows the 21-year-old sometimes plays "a little [too] fast." His outside shot also needs work.
Clarkson will be a restricted free agent this summer. He slumped a little bit toward the end of this past season but, as Walton clearly remembered, "Not against us."
Clarkson had 25 points in the Lakers' surprising 112-95 victory over the Warriors in March.
"He's another active athlete. He's constantly in attack mode, which is what you want," Walton said. "I heard he's an extremely hard worker. He's a great guy off the court as well."
Larry Nance Jr. played the least of the Lakers' young players. It didn't stop Walton from lighting up while talking about him.
"I'm a big fan of Nance," Walton said. "You're going to have superstars that end up on 'SportsCenter' every night, but you need guys that are going to be into doing the little things and making the right plays. Defensively, he seems to always be in the right place, getting his hands on loose balls and getting second and third opportunities on the offensive glass."
As for the Randy Newman song, the one that seemed so oddly out of place in Oakland but made so much sense considering the news of the weekend?
Walton loved it. Kerr was behind it.
"I expect nothing less," Walton said. "That's what we do here. The big thing for us is we want to have fun, and if fun comes from making fun of each other, then we find a way to do it. I got a good laugh out of it."
Follow Mike Bresnahan on Facebook and Twitter @Mike_Bresnahan
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