he was talking to them about the emotions that people were feeling, and he was encouraging them to share how they were feeling.

"I thought this is like a touch of something that Phil brought to him, and I was so proud of what he was doing with these young men."

During the 2009-10 season, Walton was limited to 29 games because of a back injury and felt like he wasn't part of a Lakers team that was coming off a championship and on its way to another one.

While Walton was sidelined, Jackson had him sit in on coach's meetings and chart statistics from the bench during games. The gesture, Walton said, and Jackson's guidance meant "everything" to him. Walton didn't know it at the time, but Jackson's move gaveWalton his first major exposure to NBA head coaching, a priceless internship under the game's most successful coach and a daily tutorial on how Jackson's mind worked strategically.

"I do think Luke has a similar personality to Phil in that he is a coach that stays in the moment, you don't see him get too emotionally high or too emotionally low," Pelinka said. "He has a presence. He has a lot of confidence, but yet he approaches things with calmness, which is an enduring quality."

Walton is employing some of Jackson's methods, but with a 2017 spin on it.

Pelinka introduced Walton to a meditation and mindfulness app company called "Headspace." The app guides its customers through sessions as short as three minutes, allowing 20-something NBA stars who might have a