Background and career
Luke Theodore Walton (born March 28, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the lead assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 10 seasons in the NBA as a forward, winning two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also won a title as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors before serving as the head coach of the Lakers from 2016 through 2019. Additionally, Walton served as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings from 2019 to 2021. 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. 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 at 24 games.
The son of Susie and former UCLA star and NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton, Luke Walton was born in San Diego, California. He was named after his father's close friend and former Portland Trail Blazers teammate Maurice "Luke" Lucas. He has three brothers: Adam, Nathan, and Chris. Walton attended University of San Diego High School in San Diego, California, graduating in 1998.
Walton played basketball at the University of Arizona under coach Lute Olson. A two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection, 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.
Walton was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2003 NBA draft with the second pick of the second round (32nd overall). Walton was a favorite of Lakers fans during his nine-year stint and earned a reputation as a selfless, hard-working reserve player. He was chosen to represent Team Los Angeles in the Shooting Stars Competition during All-Star Weekend in 2005. 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 as the Lakers starting small forward. Following the season, on July 12, 2007, Walton was signed by the Lakers to a 6-year, $30 million contract. The Lakers then made three straight runs to the NBA Finals; they lost to the Celtics in 2008, but defeated the Magic in 2009 and Celtics in 2010 to win back-to-back championships. This gave Walton two championships as a player, the same number his father won.
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. 2012-13 was Walton's last season as an NBA player. His final game was on April 5, 2013, in a 97–91 victory over the Boston Celtics; he finished the game with 2 assists in 3 minutes of playing time.
Walton's first coaching experience was with the University of Memphis, which hired Walton as an assistant coach during the 2011 NBA lockout. He remained an assistant at Memphis until the lockout was over. 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.
