Luke Walton

Luke Walton

Walton with the Lakers
Personal information
Born	(1980-03-28) March 28, 1980 San Diego, California
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school	University (San Diego, California)
College	Arizona (1999–2003)
NBA draft	2003: 2nd round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career	2003–2013
Position	Small forward
Number	4, 32
Career history
2003–2012	Los Angeles Lakers
2012–2013	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (2009, 2010) 2× All-Pac-10 First Team (2002–2003)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Luke Walton (born March 28, 1980) is a former American professional basketball player. He played the small forward position. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father, Hall of Famer Bill Walton, became the first father and son to both have won multiple NBA championships. Bill won in 1977 and 1986, and Luke in 2009 and 2010. His best season statistically was 2006–07 with over 11 points, 5 rebounds, and over 4 assists per game. He is also known for being the best bench-warming millionare ever!

Biography

Early life

Luke Walton is the son of former NBA and UCLA great Bill Walton, and was named after Bill's close friend and former Portland Trail Blazers teammate Maurice Lucas. He has three brothers — Adam, Nathan (who unsuccessfully ran for governor during the 2003 California recall), and Chris. He attended University of San Diego High School in San Diego, California.

College

After graduating from University of San Diego High School in 1998, Walton enrolled at the University of Arizona and majored in family studies and human development. There, he played for the Wildcats under coach Lute Olson. In his junior year, Walton averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. As a fifth-year senior, he averaged 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.9 steals.

Walton graduated from Arizona at the end of 2003, and was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2003 NBA Draft with the third pick of the second round (32nd overall). Walton stands 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds.

NBA career

Walton in 2008.

In 2006–07, Walton had a career year, with career high per game averages in minutes, field goal percentage, steals, blocks, rebounds, assists and points. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) also reached a career high. He scored a career high 25 points against the Atlanta Hawks on December 8, 2006. Following the season, on July 12, 2007, Walton was signed by the Lakers to a 6-year, $30 million contract.

On March 15, 2012, Walton was traded along with Jason Kapono and a 2012 first-round draft choice to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga.

Coaching

On August 22, 2011, the University of Memphis hired Walton as an assistant coach for the duration of the 2011 NBA lockout.

In November 2013, Walton was hired as a player development coach by the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League for the 2013–14 season.

Personal

On his right arm, there is a tattoo of four Grateful Dead-type dancing skeletons, each one with a basketball; the skeletons represent Luke and his three brothers.

In 2006, Walton made a cameo appearance on the television soap opera The Young and the Restless.

In December 2008, a woman named Stacy Elizabeth Beshear pleaded no contest to charges of stalking Walton. At one point, she pulled up to Walton's car and "pretended to fire gunshots at him with her hand." She was sentenced to three years' probation, told to attend weekly counseling sessions for a year and ordered to stay away for three years from Walton's home and from the Lakers' games and practices.

In 2009, Luke and his father became the third father-son duo to both win NBA championships as players, following the Guokases (Matt Sr. and Matt Jr.) and the Barrys (Rick and Brent).

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	L.A. Lakers	72	2	10.1	.425	.333	.705	1.8	1.6	.4	.1	2.4
2004–05	L.A. Lakers	61	5	12.6	.411	.262	.708	2.3	1.5	.4	.2	3.2
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	69	6	19.3	.412	.327	.750	3.6	2.3	.6	.2	5.0
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	60	60	33.0	.474	.387	.745	5.0	4.3	1.0	.4	11.4
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	74	31	23.4	.450	.333	.706	3.9	2.9	.8	.2	7.2
2008–09	L.A. Lakers	65	34	17.9	.436	.298	.719	2.8	2.7	.5	.2	5.0
2009–10	L.A. Lakers	29	0	9.4	.357	.412	.500	1.3	1.4	.3	.0	2.4
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	54	0	9.0	.328	.235	.700	1.2	1.1	.2	.1	1.7
2011–12	L.A. Lakers	9	0	7.2	.429	.000	.000	1.6	.6	.2	.0	1.3
2011–12	Cleveland	21	0	14.2	.353	.438	.000	1.7	1.4	.1	.0	2.0
2012–13	Cleveland	50	0	17.1	.392	.299	.500	2.9	3.3	.8	.3	3.4
Career		564	138	17.2	.429	.326	.715	2.8	2.3	.6	.2	4.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004	L.A. Lakers	17	0	7.9	.345	.385	.700	1.3	1.5	.4	.1	1.9
2006	L.A. Lakers	7	7	33.6	.458	.364	1.000	6.4	1.7	1.0	.1	12.1
2007	L.A. Lakers	5	5	25.6	.389	.417	.750	4.2	2.6	1.4	.2	7.2
2008	L.A. Lakers	21	0	16.8	.454	.423	.722	2.6	2.0	.5	.2	6.0
2009	L.A. Lakers	21	0	15.8	.427	.313	.611	2.5	2.1	.7	.1	3.8
2010	L.A. Lakers	16	0	6.0	.304	.222	.500	.5	.9	.1	.1	1.1
2011	L.A. Lakers	1	0	4.0	.000	.000	.000	1.0	0	0	0	0
Career		88	12	14.6	.420	.360	.701	2.3	1.7	.5	.1	4.3

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com 
• Template:Basketball-reference