The buzz on Twitter is that LeBron James, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, was drafted in the same year — 2003 — as former Arizona Wildcats standout Luke Walton, his new coach.
Even more fascinating is the free agent acquisition of James by the Lakers means the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Finals rival the last four years will now be their Western Conference rival.
And even more tantalizing in Tucson is the fact that Walton and Steve Kerr might be coaching the two best teams in the NBA. Their staffs have an Arizona angle with 1997 Final Four MVP Miles Simon and team manager Jesse Murmuys (Salpointe Catholic grad) with the Lakers and Kerr’s former teammate, Bruce Fraser, with the Warriors.
Here are some Twitter reactions all things considered from an Arizona angle:
An odd couple?
LeBron will now be coached by Luke Walton, who was drafted 31 picks after him in 2003. pic.twitter.com/CWxnZ0tSS2
— ESPN (@espn) July 2, 2018
You can expect the “Walton will be fired” banter.
BREAKING: Lakers fire head coach Luke Walton and promote recent signee LeBron James, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/5gkkZBAWLo
— Not Bleacher Report (@BIeacherReport) July 2, 2018
Lebron to the #Lakers is the end of Luke Walton’s coaching career #SaveThisTweet pic.twitter.com/FoM4NQJo8l
— Lakers Fanbase (@BenOsaze) July 2, 2018
Not to mention, plenty of jokes about what could be a power struggle.
It will be interesting to see how Luke Walton takes to Lebron’s coaching style
— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) July 2, 2018
This all depends on the talent, or lack thereof, that will surround LeBron in LA:
Will be very interesting to see how LeBron fits into Luke Walton's system. Luke in theory likes to play the way Kerr does, LeBron likes to have the ball in his hands and run things.
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 2, 2018
Will Kerr and Walton still have this fun-loving relationship with stakes much higher between the Warriors and Lakers?
Steve Kerr starting his press conference: "I thought the main thing was that I completely out-coached Luke Walton …" 😂 pic.twitter.com/Tu0UJx9v9A
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 15, 2018
Kerr is not leaving any time soon meaning the rivalry with LeBron will continue in California for a while.
Three-time NBA championship coach Steve Kerr is finalizing a contract extension that will make him one of the highest paid coaches in the NBA, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2018
Now this is funny …
Steve Kerr to the GroupChat
“LeBron just signed with the Lakers” pic.twitter.com/7DT8RViF10— Nelson Suarez (@NelsonSuarez156) July 2, 2018
This is funny too on the other spectrum.
Steve Kerr's reaction after hearing LeBron James is a Laker pic.twitter.com/epJYmfrVZf
— PlayersProgramU.com (@playersprogramu) July 2, 2018
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