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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton thinks he has "excellent relations with management" and that he does not have the feeling "to go anywhere".
Walton spoke to the media a few hours after ESPN reported that the Lakers' president, Magic Johnson, had met with the coach on Tuesday and reprimanded him following a trip on the road two games without a win. League sources told Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN that Johnson's message to Walton had heightened pressure on the coach for him to get the winners' results as soon as possible , a replica of Johnson's public comments regarding patience at the beginning of the internship.
Walton would not go into the details of his meeting with Johnson, but he asked if he thought management would give him the leeway needed to make a difficult start 3-5 by offering as many new features. The Lakers also have a difficult opening schedule and have lost starters Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram because of recent suspensions.
"I have the impression of having excellent relations with the management, yes," said Walton, who spoke with general manager Rob Pelinka after the training sessions. and before the Lakers flew to Portland.
The Lakers' president, Magic Johnson, reprimanded coach Luke Walton as the new LeBron James composition slowly began.
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When asked if he thought he had job security, Walton said, "I feel like I'm coming here to do my job and my coach."
Walton signed a five-year deal with Los Angeles in April 2016, valued at between $ 25 million and $ 30 million. At the time of his hiring, the Lakers were led by Mitch Kupchak, then general manager, and Jim Buss, the brother of Jeanie Buss, majority owner of the Lakers.
The coach would not explain the ESPN report more precisely, saying that the discussions between him and management are private.
"What we discuss at our meetings is between us, but … we say it from the beginning, we will be patient," Walton said. "We know where we are going, we know how to get there, and it takes time and hard work.At the present time, our guys are working extremely hard.We had some setbacks with some suspensions, but we played good teams and we had the chance to win a lot of these games.
"We plan to win them in the future, we will continue to work and improve, and everything will be fine."
On Saturday, Los Angeles will face the Trail Blazers, who beat the Lakers 16 times in a row, including at the opening night at the Moda Center. After that, the Lakers return home to face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
At the start of the season, several executives and coaches in the league told ESPN that Walton may have had the toughest job in the NBA and wondered how he would build a list of veterans from the NBA. a year with strong personalities and a young core developing around LeBron James. .
During the summer, Johnson repeated many times that it was necessary to show a lot of new parts, especially if there was a slow start. Johnson cited James' slow start when he first entered the Miami Heat and returned to Cleveland. He said he told Walton not to worry about difficult beginnings in Los Angeles.
But after the Lakers dropped to 2-5 as a result of defeats in winning matches in San Antonio and Minnesota, Johnson met Walton. The Lakers then had to survive an alert Mavericks at Halloween late in the game as Dallas nearly overcame a 19-point deficit.
Walton reiterated Friday to his team to block the outside noise, a message he has brought home since the beginning of the camp.
"My message to the players was, that's what we talked about," Walton said. "We know that this will happen – every time we lose, there are stories and distractions – it is our choice to stick to these or to stay present and focus our efforts. energy and time on what we can do to get better. "
Walton spent the season trying to find the right rotations, using 104 runs in eight games, just behind the Hawks' 140 in reconstruction, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The coach likes what he saw in James' starting lineup, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and JaVale McGee in the last two games, but they know the situation could still be fluid over the next few weeks.
"We try to understand things, we need to understand the groups," said Walton.
Walton was asked if he had expressed the difficulties faced by Lakers coaching staff with new parts, suspensions, and the constant search for chemicals with a shortened training camp and pre-season.
"Magic and I talk a lot about basketball and our team, their opinions and opinions," Walton said. "But again, whatever these conversations are, they will stay between me and the office.
"I do not like to assume that people know what I'm thinking, so if I speak, I'll explain whatever the situation is, but again, the things that are being said, that's Is a private matter -office / coach stuff. "
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