In one day, 5 1/2 weeks ago, the two people who brought Luke Walton back to the Lakers were gone from their positions. That day general manager Mitch Kupchak was fired and Jim Buss was removed as the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations. She wanted to make sure they were on the same page, and that Johnson was comfortable building a team around Walton. … I believe that if we build with Luke in mind that he’s somebody that can be around a long time.”Johnson agreed that Walton was the right coach for the Lakers future. Now, in his role as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, Johnson meets with Walton and other key members of the organization regularly.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 01, 2017 03:50 UTC