USA TODAY International Edition
Lakers should’ve defended coach Walton
The Los Angeles Lakers have been engulfed in the LaVar Ball mess since the weekend, but they haven’t publicly vouched for their coach. What are they waiting for?
Week 12 of Jumping to Conclusions tackles that question and takes the pulse in South Beach, where the Miami Heat have somehow played their way into NBA playoff contention. The Lakers will regret not defending Luke Walton: Never mind that the decibel level on the Ball drama has been cranked to 10 since Sunday, when the father of rookie point guard Lonzo Ball put second-year coach Luke Walton on blast in an interview with ESPN. The Lakers brain trust has chosen to stay silent.
The organization’s stance — i.e. the rationale guiding their public relations plan — goes like this: We can’t get in the habit of responding every time the parent of a player complains publicly.
In a vacuum, there’s nothing wrong with that approach. But the sheer power of LaVar’s celebrity, like it or not, changes everything and demands that something be said — preferably by new basketball president/Lakers legend Magic Johnson.
Especially since, as USA TODAY reported Wednesday, the Lakers are known to be fully behind Walton and also have no regrets about drafting Lonzo No. 2 out of UCLA.
So … why not just say it and avoid this awkward situation in which Walton is left looking like he’s not worthy of defending? In the absence of a public comment, we’ve seen a wave of high-profile criticism from the media ranks that likely wouldn’t have been there if they backed Walton. There’s a way of doing this in which the Lakers wouldn’t even invoke LaVar’s name, thereby avoiding the risk of offending Lonzo and his family while simultaneously showing support for the coach who has the most unique of challenges on his hands. The Miami Heat will make the playoffs: The Heat are 23-17 and tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference (but also 21⁄2 games from ninth place). Since starting the season 7-9, they are 16-8, which is the seventh-best winning percentage in the league during that stretch. The Heat beat the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday on the road for their fifth consecutive victory, and their last three victories have been by a combined six points.
They are doing it by committee (Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington, James Johnson and Kelly Olynyk), and no one averages more than 17 points.
But eight players average at least 10 points, led by Dragic at 16.9. Justise Winslow and rookie Bam Adebayo are contributing, too.
Miami started last season 10-31 and finished 31-10, showing signs of what it could be this season. The Heat are playing more like the team now that finished last season. One of these years Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will win coach of the year honors. And if he doesn’t, he should have at some point along the way.