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Luke Walton

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Luke Walton
Walton playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008
Golden State Warriors
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1980-03-28) March 28, 1980 (age 44)
San Diego, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolUniversity of San Diego HS
(San Diego, California)
CollegeArizona (1999–2003)
NBA draft2003: 2nd round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career2003–2013
PositionSmall forward / Power forward
Number4, 32
Coaching career2014–present
Career history
As player:
2003–2012Los Angeles Lakers
2012–2013Cleveland Cavaliers
As coach:
2014–presentGolden State Warriors (asst)
Career highlights and awards
As player
As assistant coach
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Luke Theodore Walton (born March 28, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1][2] He played 10 seasons in the NBA as a forward, and won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Walton played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. He was a second-team All-American and a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10. He was selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft by the Lakers. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father, Hall of Famer Bill Walton, became the first father and son to have both won multiple NBA championships: Bill won in 1977 and 1986, and Luke in 2009 and 2010.[3] His best season statistically was 2006–07 with over 11 points, 5 rebounds, and over 4 assists per game. As the Warriors' interim head coach in 2015–16, he guided the team to the longest winning streak to open a season in league history.

Early life

The son of former UCLA and NBA standout Bill Walton, Luke Walton was named after his father's close friend and former Portland Trail Blazers teammate Maurice Lucas.[4] He has three brothers — Adam, Nathan and Chris. Nathan ran unsuccessfully for governor during the 2003 California recall. Walton attended University of San Diego High School in San Diego, California, graduating in 1998.

College

Walton played basketball at the University of Arizona under coach Lute Olson. His best year statistically was as a junior, when he averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. During his senior year he averaged 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game.

Walton graduated from Arizona in the spring of 2003 after completing work in family studies and human development.

At 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, Walton was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2003 NBA draft with the second pick of the second round (32nd overall).

NBA career

In 2006–07, Walton had his best year in the NBA. He scored a career-high 25 points against the Atlanta Hawks on December 8, 2006. For the season he posted 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. Following the season, on July 12, 2007, Walton was signed by the Lakers to a 6-year, $30 million contract.[5] The Lakers won two NBA championships during Walton's time with the team. 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.[6]

Coaching

Walton's first coaching experience was with the University of Memphis, which hired Walton as an assistant coach during the 2011 NBA lockout.[7] Hired August 22, 2011, his employment there lasted for the duration of the lockout.

Following his retirement Walton was hired as a player development coach by the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, joining the team in November 2013 for the 2013–14 season.[8]

The following year Walton became an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. Said Walton, "We are gonna run parts of the triangle offense, and I know that thing front and back." Walton joined the Warrior staff July 3, 2014.[2] The Warriors won the 2015 NBA Finals after they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to give Walton his third NBA championship and first as a coach.

In October 2015 Walton was appointed as the Warriors interim head coach when Steve Kerr took an indefinite leave of absence to rehabilitate his back that had been bothering him after the NBA Finals.[1][9] Walton made his coaching debut in the season opener on October 27 in a 111–95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Three games later, he presided over the third-largest margin of victory in franchise history when the Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 119–69, the largest margin since 1991.[10] The Warriors set a new NBA record by winning their first four games by a total margin of 100 points.[11] With a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on November 24, he guided the Warriors to a 16th consecutive victory to start the season, a new NBA record.[12] However, the entire season will be officially credited to Kerr, as he is still listed as head coach of record and works with the team during practices and at halftimes during home games.[13] As of November 30, 2015, the NBA was considering crediting Walton with the current 2015–2016 win-loss record for the Warriors as Kerr was still away with an illness.[14] The NBA also clarified those rules on December 1, 2015, to which they said "any head coach, interim head coach or acting head coach is eligible to be recognized with league coaching awards".[15]

Walton was named the NBA Western Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November 2015.[16] The Warriors were 39–4, the second-best start in league history, when Kerr resumed coaching full-time on January 22, 2016.[17]

Broadcasting

Walton was hired by Time Warner Cable SportsNet in 2013 to join their Lakers on-air broadcast team.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20]

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).

On August 17, 2013, Walton married long-time girlfriend Bre Ladd. The two had met at the University of Arizona, where the 6'1" Ladd was a standout middleblocker on the university's volleyball team.[21]

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
† Denotes seasons in which Walton won an NBA championship

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

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pincus, Eric (October 1, 2015). "Former Laker Luke Walton named Warriors' interim head coach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Warriors Announce Steve Kerr's Coaching Staff". Golden State Warriors. 3 July 2014.
  3. ^ Tomasson, Chris (2010-06-15). "Bill Walton "I'm Back In The Game Of Life"". NBA.FanHouse.com. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  4. ^ Wolfson, Maxx (March 7, 2013). "From playing partners to parenthood". Arizona Daily Wildcat. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  5. ^ Walton to stay with Lakers after agreeing to 6-year, $30 million deal
  6. ^ "Cavaliers Acquire 2012 First Round Pick, Kapono, Walton and Right To Swap 2013 First Round Picks From Lakers". NBA.com. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  7. ^ Pastner Recommends Luke Walton For Tigers Hoops Assistant Coach Position
  8. ^ Luke Walton hired as player development coach in D-League
  9. ^ "Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr to Take a Leave of Absence to Focus on Back Rehab". NBA.com. October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ Kroichick, Ron (November 5, 2015). "Warriors survive 1st tough test, beat Clippers 112-108". SFGate.
  12. ^ Simmons, Rusty (November 24, 2015). "Warriors dominate in historic 16th straight win". SFGate.
  13. ^ Kroichick, Ron (November 4, 2015). "Walton's early success boosts Kerr's career record". SFGate.
  14. ^ "NBA reportedly considers crediting Luke Walton with Warriors' wins". Sporting News. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  15. ^ "Luke Walton named NBA Coach of the Month despite being 'winless'". ESPN. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  16. ^ NBA (December 1, 2015). "Cavs' Blatt, Warriors' Walton named Coaches of Month | NBA.com". Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  17. ^ Spears, Marc J. (January 22, 2016). "Steve Kerr set to return to coach Warriors". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Pincus, Eric (October 3, 2013). "Byron Scott and Luke Walton join TWC SportsNet broadcast team". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ SignOnSanDiego.com > Sports – Walton to make acting debut on 'Young and Restless'
  20. ^ Winton, Richard. (2008-12-19) Luke Walton's stalker pleads no contest, sentenced to probation The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  21. ^ Bell, Diane (16 August 2013). "NBA's Luke Walton to marry Saturday in Aspen, Colo". UT San Diego. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
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