After two years of coaching a rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers team, head coach Luke Walton will now be tasked with one of the most intimidating jobs in the NBA: coaching LeBron James. Walton will be James’ sixth head coach in his illustrious 15-year career, adding to a list that already includes Paul Silas, Mike Brown, Erik Spoelstra, David Blatt and most recently Tyronn Lue, who James won an NBA championship with in 2016. After James’ camp announced he was signing a four-year deal with the Lakers, Walton reportedly reached out to Lue to set up a day where he, along with Lakers associate head coach Brian Shaw could discuss what it’s like to coach the four-time league MVP. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, that date has been set up for Monday. Lue also told McMenamin that the point he wants to get across in his meeting with Walton and Shaw is that while a lot has been made of the pressure that will be on Walton, James isn’t a tough guy to coach. Like, at all: “I just want to let him know, the s--- that people say and you read, Bron’s not like that,” Lue said. “Like, they make it seem like he’s hard on the coach, he’s hard on [the organization]. He’s nothing like that. That’s the most important thing I want to convey with him: that he’s not like that. ”My biggest thing is the zoo comes from just the outside media. It’s really not coming from within because everybody he deals with -- Maverick [Carter], Randy [Mims], all those guys -- are professional. So it won’t be no problem from any of those guys, and Bron carries himself the right way. So the biggest part is just having to deal with the media scrutiny. But he’s not like that. I don’t want people thinking Bron’s an a--h--- or Bron’s this and that because he’s not.” Walton is no stranger to media scrutiny. Last season, during the Lakers’ second-longest losing streak in team history, ESPN published an article reporting Walton had lost the Lakers’ locker room using LaVar Ball as their primary source. Suffice to say, Walton is ready for whatever comes his way. However, that doesn’t mean Walton will stop trying to get every advantage he can. It’s for that reason he’s already spoken to Spoelstra, as well as James’ former teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, who Walton coached for just nine games last season, according to McMenamin. The jury is still out on Walton and whether or not he’s the right guy to coach a star-led Lakers team, but from the looks of it, he’s doing everything he can to set up his team up for success. As a fan and player, that’s really all you can ask for. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.<doc-sep>Call it a King’s Speech. Lakers coach Luke Walton has plans to meet with the Cavaliers’ Tyronn Lue for advice on coaching LeBron James, according to ESPN. Walton, who will be James’ sixth head coach, didn’t meet with the four-time MVP during the recruitment process of his move to Los Angeles, according to reports. He had plans to meet for breakfast Monday with Lue and Lakers associate head coach Brian Shaw, a former teammate of the Cavs coach. The Lakers coach called Lue after James’ decision was announced. “I just want to let him know, the s–t that people say and you read, Bron’s not like that,” Lue told the network. “Like, they make it seem like he’s hard on the coach, he’s hard on [the organization]. He’s nothing like that. That’s the most important thing I want to convey with him: that he’s not like that. Walton is following a familiar pattern of James’ coaches helping one another, as Lue previously called Heat coach Erik Spoelstra for advice when he was promoted to head coach in Cleveland. “Spo was helpful with the things that Bron likes, the things he’s good at, whatever,” Lue said. “Just getting the knowledge from a championship coach who had dealt with him for four years, I got to see what his strengths were, what he liked, what he didn’t like, how he used him in certain situations and stuff like that. It was pretty important for me.” Walton also has spoken with his friends Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, two former teammates of James, for insight into the 33-year-old, who’s played in eight straight NBA Finals.<doc-sep>During a break between games at the NBA Summer League, Lakers coach Luke Walton found Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue for a short chat. The two former Lakers have a lot to talk about these days. For the last 2 1/2 seasons, Lue has coached LeBron James. Now that James has agreed to a four-year deal with the Lakers, it’s Walton’s turn. Their chat between games was just the beginning. Lue said he plans to meet with Walton and Lakers associate head coach Brian Shaw — who was Lue’s Lakers teammate for two seasons — in Las Vegas this week to discuss over dinner their new coaching challenge. “I’ll just tell them LeBron’s easy,” Lue said. “People get this whole thing built up like he’s hard to coach. It’s not. LeBron’s not the problem. It’s the outside tension that’s the problem. Just put added pressure immediately on the coaches, on his teammates. Now everything you do is under a microscope. … So it’s going to be a totally different change for the Lakers. They’ll be able to handle it. Advertisement “LeBron is easy to play with, very unselfish. LeBron can bring guys along, make sure they’re doing the right thing. It’s going to be good. The outside is what you’ve gotta be able to block out.” Lue was an associate head coach for the Cavaliers from 2014 to ’16, and the head coach from January of 2016 until now. James returned to the Cavaliers in the summer of 2014 and won a championship with the franchise in 2016. Lue mentioned talking with James and Kevin Love on the Cavaliers about things they saw and how they liked playing. “He’ll try anything once,” Lue said of James. “If it don’t work, he might be like, you know. But overall it was great. He made my job, made my life easy. Turned me into a championship coach.” The former Lakers player and Clippers assistant said he spoke with James at times while he made his free agency decision. But he never pressed him on what he was planning. “Everybody he’s touched is made better,” Lue said. “Family, friends, organizations, the city of Cleveland, his players, his coaches. He made everybody’s life easier, everybody’s better. It’s tough to lose that type of piece. It was hard to swallow.” Hart leads win In their bid to repeat as summer league champions, the Lakers found a new leader. Advertisement Second-year guard Josh Hart led the team with 24 points in 26 minutes as the Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 96-79 in their summer league opener. “Josh found a great balance between passing, scoring tonight,” Lakers coach Miles Simon said. “He obviously found a great balance. But for me, Josh Hart and the organization, we want him to be a leader in this setting. Today he set the tone defensively he drew the assignment of [Furkan Korkmaz], who had 40 points last night. He took him out of the game early.” Korkmaz was one for 11 from the field. KCP’s view Advertisement Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who returned to the Lakers on a one-year deal worth $12 million, is the Laker who has had the most access to his soon-to-be-teammate, James, as the two share an agent. A year ago, Caldwell-Pope, with four years of NBA experience, was considered a veteran on an exceptionally young Lakers team. This year, he’s a young guy again. “I’m excited to play with someone like LeBron,” Caldwell-Pope said. “But it’s also going to help the young guys out, including myself. It’s going to open the floor up more. Hit a lot of open shots. I just tell us to be prepared.” Caldwell-Pope thinks James’ arrival will help second-year point guard Lonzo Ball. Advertisement “They’ll fit well,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Lonzo can learn a lot from him about seeing the floor, making better decisions.” tania.ganguli@latimes.com Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli<doc-sep>
The NBA is a highly competitive league, and there are true rivalries between teams and players. But it is also a brotherhood, a fraternity where for the most part everyone wants to see each other succeed. That seems especially true among the coaches, so this latest bit of news should come as little surprise. According to a report from Tania Ganguli, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Ty Lue will meet with Lakers coach Luke Walton in order to give him some advice and guidance about coaching LeBron James. "The King," of course, recently decided to take his talents to Southern California and play for Walton and the Lakers. Via the Los Angeles Times: For the last 2 1/2 seasons, Lue has coached LeBron James. Now that James has agreed to a four-year deal with the Lakers, it's Walton's turn. Their chat between games was just the beginning. Lue said he plans to meet with Walton and Lakers associate head coach Brian Shaw — who was Lue's Lakers teammate for two seasons — in Las Vegas this week to discuss over dinner their new coaching challenge. "I'll just tell them LeBron's easy," Lue said. "People get this whole thing built up like he's hard to coach. It's not. LeBron's not the problem. It's the outside tension that's the problem. Just put added pressure immediately on the coaches, on his teammates. Now everything you do is under a microscope. … So it's going to be a totally different change for the Lakers. They'll be able to handle it. "LeBron is easy to play with, very unselfish. LeBron can bring guys along, make sure they're doing the right thing. It's going to be good. The outside is what you've gotta be able to block out." Lue has spent the past four seasons coaching James, the past two and a half as head coach. They won a title together, and went through all the ups and downs that came with the Cavs in the past few years. So who better for Walton to converse with about his upcoming challenge? It's pretty cool of Lue to take some time out of his summer break to help out a fellow coach when he's under no obligation to do so. Hopefully Walton will be able to pick up a few things that will make his life easier this upcoming season.