Lakers’ Luke Walton watches more film than any coach John Ireland has seen, including Phil Jackson

Even as the Los Angeles Lakers have kept their fans on the kind of rollercoaster Six Flags would be proud of, work ethic has rarely been questioned about anyone. Based on John Ireland’s recent appearance on the “Locked on Lakers” podcast, everyone seems to be following their head coach’s example.

Here’s a bit of what Ireland had to say about Walton:

I’ve been around a lot of coaches. I’ve been working with the Lakers since before Phil Jackson. I came in there in the Del Harris years. And I’ve never seen a coach watch film and be married to the job more than Luke Walton is. I mean, if you go anywhere and run into him, he’s working.

Just for reference, Ireland has spanned Harris and Jackson as he mentioned, Rudy Tomjanovich, Mike Brown, Mike D’Antoni and, of course Byron Scott. Technically speaking, Bill Bertka, Kurt Rambis, Frank Hamblen and the immortal Bernie Bickerstaff also coached the team, but they were there on an interim basis.

Ireland has seen quite a few coaches’ processes over the years, and the fact that Luke stands out for this is a great sign of not only potential success this year, but how it might affect the culture surrounding the organization. For a young Lakers team, him leading by this example is the kind of situation players develop properly in. Great to see.

Listen to the full show here, which includes that time Walton and Jesse Murmuys were watching video by the pool in Miami, and plenty more.

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