For the first time in his brief coaching career, Luke Walton on Tuesday will make the bus trip from the Warriors team hotel to downtown Los Angeles and walk into Staples Center as the enemy of that city’s beloved Lakers.
The Lakers, the franchise that drafted him out of the University of Arizona in 2003, were Walton’s professional family for nearly 10 years.
And now, as interim head coach of the Warriors, his sole goal will be to beat the team that taught him the ways of the NBA.
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[POOLE: Gameday: Kobe questionable as Warriors invade Staples]
“It sounds kind of cool,” Walton said late Monday night. “It’s where I’ve spent most of my career playing. Against my old teammate (Lakers star Kobe Bryant), coaching against the coach (Lakers coach Byron Scott) I played for at end of my career, it should be kind of cool.
“But once you get going and the ball goes up, you get so locked in on what’s happening in the game I don’t think it’ll be any different than any other game.”
Walton a few days ago could not have known if he’d still be interim head coach or if he’d be an assistant to Steve Kerr. Kerr remains on leave of absence, but it was speculated that he might be able to return last weekend.
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Though Kerr has attended recent practices and games, he did not fly to Los Angeles with the team late Monday night. He will visit and consult with doctors, according to the Warriors, but plans to join the team Friday in Portland.
“He’s the same,” Walton said of Kerr. “Good days and bad days. But not ready to coach yet.”
Which leaves Walton in the role he has so admirably filled since Sept. 30. He has been to Staples to face the Clippers, but this time he’ll match wits with Scott, who was in Cleveland when Walton finished his career there.