Warriors' Walton 'not going to rush off into anything else'
The Golden State Warriors lost one of their top assistants in Alvin Gentry last year to a head coaching gig with the New Orleans Pelicans. If the reports are to be believed, they may soon lose another.
Luke Walton, who coached the Warriors to a 39-4 start this season in the absence of Steve Kerr, is drawing interest from teams with head coaching vacancies, specifically the New York Knicks - who may or may not be sticking with interim coach Kurt Rambis.
Knicks president Phil Jackson reportedly spoke with Walton recently, but Kerr insisted Walton hadn't been interviewed for a job. Walton cleared up the confusion Monday in an interview with Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News.
"I talked to Phil, but I always talk to Phil. He's a mentor of mine," said Walton, who played under Jackson for seven seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
"There was no job interview whatsoever. It was just a conversation which is not that rare for Phil and I to have."
Kerr has said that he'll give Walton permission to interview for head coaching positions, but not while the Warriors are in the middle of a playoff series, as they are now. Instead he'll be permitted to interview between series.
Walton, for his part, acknowledged that while he wants to focus on Golden State's current playoff run, most of the coaching vacancies will be filled by the time the postseason is over. He's trying to weigh the desire to spread his wings against the comfort level he's developed in his role with the Warriors.
"I'm very comfortable and I love where I'm at right now," he said. "I love coming to work every day. I also do want to be a head coach some day, whether that's next year or the year after that. I'm going to pursue those opportunities. But knowing while I'm doing that, that I love my job here. So I'm not going to rush off into anything else."
Walton has also taken note of Gentry's challenging first year in New Orleans, where injuries, lack of cohesion, and general malaise led to an extremely disappointing 30-52 finish. That's not enough to dissuade Walton from chasing his dream of being a head coach, but it may be enough to make him wait a little longer for the right opportunity.
"We still talk to Alvin all the time and tell him how stressed he looks on TV compared to last year," Walton said. "But I think when you love coaching, you also enjoy those challenges. It's something you kind of look forward to.
"It's tough to say, because this is the side of coaching I've known, so I don't have much to compare it against, but I do love coaching. And I love the idea of that challenge, of trying to rebuild and kind of recreate what we have here. That sounds like it's a lot of fun and something I'd be interested in.
"But that doesn’t need to be next year."