Lakers owner avoids Walton job security questions: I defer to Magic

With the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated from playoff contention for a sixth straight year, the focus has now shifted to whether Luke Walton will remain the head coach next season.

However, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said, "I'm not going to give you the answer to that question," when asked about Walton's job security on the "Sports Business Radio Road Show," according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Buss was complimentary of Walton's work ethic and understands he was handcuffed by injuries to key players this season.

"And that's a challenge for a coach to constantly be changing lineups, and it's hard," Buss said. "But we were in a position where things were all going in the right way, and we beat Golden State on Christmas Day, which was a great present for me, but then also LeBron got hurt. So it really puts a lot of pressure on the coaching situation in terms of what he's able to do when he's shorthanded with players."

"I think he is a hard worker, and he is somebody that players gravitate towards, and he's, I think, done an incredible job under a lot of challenging circumstances."

The Lakers were 20-14 when James went down with a groin injury on Dec. 25 and lost 11 of 17 in his absence.

Though Buss is understanding of Walton's circumstances, she admitted team president Magic Johnson will continue to lead the franchise.

"In terms of basketball decisions, I will always defer to Magic," Buss said. "He's brought a vision of the kind of team we're going to build and a vision of what Lakers basketball is going to be. And I think you can see that. But we're still building that roster that will get us there."

Walton took over as head coach of the Lakers in 2016 after two seasons as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, though L.A. has gone just 96-146 in his three seasons.