Luke Walton is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers as their coach.
The Lakers reached a contract agreement on a multiyear deal Friday night with the 36-year-old former player, general manager Mitch Kupchak announced. Walton will become the 26th coach in franchise history.
Walton, an assistant with Golden State, will remain with the Warriors until the end of their season. Walton served as the interim coach at the start of this season and led the team to a 39-4 record, including an NBA-record 24-0 start, before coach Steve Kerr returned after recovering from back surgery.
“I loved everything about my time at Golden State and learning from Steve,” Walton told ESPN. “I’ll forever be grateful to him, the organization and the team. But I have always dreamed of being a head coach and the chance to do that for an organization like the Lakers doesn’t come around very often.”
Byron Scott was fired last Sunday after the Lakers struggled to the second-worst record in the NBA this season at 17-65. They were 38-126 in Scott’s two seasons as coach.
“We’re excited to bring Luke back to Los Angeles, where we feel he’s going to start an outstanding coaching career,” Kupchak said in a statement. “He’s one of the brightest young coaching minds in the game and we feel fortunate that he’ll be leading the on-court future of our team.”
Walton is in his second season with the Warriors. After his 10-year NBA playing career ended, he served as an assistant at the University of Memphis in 2011 and as a player development coach for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBA Development League in 2013-14 before joining the Warriors.
“I’m incredibly happy for Luke,” Kerr said. “As we witnessed earlier this season, he has all of the intangibles necessary to be an outstanding head coach in this league, including a terrific understanding of the game and the ability to communicate with a wide range of people. He’s certainly ready for this opportunity and I’m confident he’ll do a great job with the Lakers once our season is complete.”
As a player, Walton averaged 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 564 regular-season games for the Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He played on the Lakers’ NBA championship teams in 2009 and 2010.
“We are thrilled for Luke,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for him to return home and serve as head coach for one of the most storied franchises in sports. Luke has done an incredible job during his two-year stint with our team and has played a significant role in our success, including last year’s championship and again this season under some very unique circumstances. We are certainly going to miss Luke after we conclude our playoff run this season, but we wish him the very best with the Lakers.”
Walton’s biggest praise came from his father, Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who did so in proud dad fashion by tweeting a picture of Luke as a young child.
“Who would have ever thought that little Luke Walton would be the head coach of the Lakers, so happy for him,” Bill Walton posted Saturday on Twitter.