PHILADELPHIA, PA—At Temple University, the Los Angeles Lakers met for a rare Thursday practice following the only literal "road" leg of their seven-game road trip. LA took a bus from New York City to Philadelphia before getting onto the court of the Temple Owls on a below-freezing day in the City of Brotherly Love.
"We got some good stuff done," Lakers coach Luke Walton shared with a small enough media contingent that even the coach commented on the lack of faces holding recorders and the absolute absence of television cameras.
"Guys voiced some opinions and made some good points," Walton continued. "That's what we're looking for. We want guys constantly stepping up and taking on bigger roles. It's not easy for young guys in this league to do that, but I was happy with the response today."
Walton was referring to forwards Thomas Robinson and Tarik Black, neither of whom played in Wednesday's forgettable loss to the Brooklyn Nets, speaking passionately to the team following the Saturday practice session. Robinson went first and seemed to focus on keeping composure on the court, focusing on and fighting for possessions. Black emphasized appreciating the opportunity of being in the privileged position of being NBA players and playing for the Lakers and not to take that for granted. Black reminded his teammates that the primary focus should always be basketball.
"We didn't ask them," Walton said the two players volunteered to speak to the team. "They both asked if they could say something. And they both did and made solid points. That's what we want out of our players. We don't want it constantly to come from coaching and us being the only ones talking. We want the players doing stuff like that."
Walton added, "Only when it comes from the heart and they mean it."
Of course, the coach had seemingly yelled at his players following the loss in Brooklyn the night before and also called his team "soft," which the players took as a challenged issued.
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On Thursday, Walton explained.
"I don't think that we are mentally soft. I think at times, we play mentally soft, and there's a big difference," Walton clarified his position. "We got a group that I think had a lot of success early on, relatively speaking, and basically, along that way, lost our priorities and lost our focus on what we were doing to have that type of success. I think a lot of that is part of the mental game. And being able to get that back, we haven't found it yet. I think it's something that we have within us, but we've got to dig deep and find it and bring it out."
So did the fast start, positive press and relative success go to his players' heads?
Walton paused and thought hard before responding, "I know that we were getting a lot of love around town, and I know that feels good. And I know that when you feel good, you lose some of that toughness and that edge, and you want to keep it, but I don't know the answer to that."
Asked about raising his voice, Walton said he had no problem yelling at his players. However, he didn't believe in publicly ripping into players.
"I have no problem with yelling or being upset at all," Walton said with a stern face. "I don't believe in doing it to the players in front of people, but when we're in the privacy of our locker room, I have no problem with that."
Afterward, Walton sat down and hung out with Julius Randle, took a couple shots light-hearted shots at Ivica Zubac and Larry Nance Jr. and walked off the court with a smile on his face.
He may have yelled at his players and challenged them fewer than 24 hours earlier, but he's still a players' coach that continues to maintain open communication with his players.
Notes: Lou Williams was excused from Thursday's practice, but Walton said he expected the team's designated scorer off the bench to be in uniform on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Black practiced with the team on Thursday, but Walton admitted that the backup center was limping a bit. Black's return from an ankle injury depends on his ability to recover from Thursday's practice and Friday's shootaround. Jose Calderon ran on the sidelines but did not take part in practice. Walton called Calderon's running "progress" but did not offer a timeline on the veteran's return.
