Bill Walton, aka The Big Read Head, succumbed to cancer, as the Portland Trail Blazers legend bid farewell to the NBA world. His first goodbye to basketball was back in 1987 when he retired from the game after facing a lot of injuries. Although his dominant career came to an end sooner than expected, his four children continued the basketball legacy of the Walton family. Notably, all four of them tried their hand at professional basketball, but only two of them managed to make a huge impact. 

Bill Walton married Lori Matsuoka in 1991 and they lived in San Diego. Lori gave birth to four children, Adam, Nate, Chris, and Luke Walton, who have made a name for themselves over the years. Adam, the eldest of all, was the first to start basketball among his siblings, following his father’s path. Adam played for three universities in his college basketball career: Louisiana State University, Pomona College, and College of Notre Dame in Belmont. Later, however, he started showing interest in coaching. Currently, Adam is the assistant coach of the San Diego Mesa College. 

The second eldest child was Nate Walton, who starred for Princeton University. Anyhow, his interest in playing professional basketball did not last long, and thus he decided to make a drastic switch. Nate entered the corporate world after completing an MBA degree from Stanford University. In 2003, he also gave a shot at the California Recall Election, but couldn’t find success in it. 

The second youngest was Chris Walton, who chose a similar path to his brother Nate. Chris started his basketball career at San Diego State Aztecs. Anyhow, soon after this, he realized he had a bigger passion for real estate. According to an article from The U.S. Sun, “He is an executive at Westar Associates, a real estate development firm in Newport Beach“. 

Out of the above three, only Adam is continuing his career in basketball. Although he couldn’t get into the league, the youngest blood of the Walton family, Luke, decided to fulfill that desire. The 44-year-old is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But before this, he played a bigger role in the NBA, just like his father, alongside Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. 

How did Luke Walton manage to bring fame once again to the Walton family?

It’s safe to say Luke is the most successful in the Walton family after his father when it comes to basketball. He starred for the Arizona Wildcats, before entering the NBA draft in 2003, where he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the second pick in the second round. Luke’s time with the LA unit was special, and he played two roles there. 

He played with the Lakers for 9 straight seasons before he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012. During his tenure in LA, he got the honor of playing under Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. But most importantly, he was part of the Lakers’ historic two peat in 2009 and 2010, alongside late legend Kobe Bryant, aka The Black Mamba. 

After just one season with the Cavs, Luke retired, but his contribution to the game was not over yet. He entered the much-known spectrum of coaching. Walton started as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors in 2014 and earned a lot of plaudits for his role in establishing the Warriors dynasty. He became a hot commodity in the coaching market and in 2016, he played his second role for the Lakers. He replaced Byron Scott as the head coach for the LA unit. 

Was Luke Walton a good coach for the Los Angeles Lakers?

In his first season as a head coach, the Lakers finished 26-56 in the regular season, which was an improvement when compared with the previous season. Anyhow, they did not make it to the playoffs. There was again a bit of an improvement in the next year. The Lakeshow finished as the 11th seed in the Western Conference, with a record of 35-47. 

Unfortunately, the results were similar in Luke’s last season as well, despite LeBron James joining the team. The Lakers never made it to the playoffs in Luke’s time as a head coach. In his one season with Lebron James, injuries piled up one after the other, which forced Luke to change the starting line-up 25 times in a single season. However, it was too late for him to get another chance. Luke Walton and the Lakers mutually agreed to part ways. 

Then he joined the Sacramento Kings as head coach, where his playoff draught once again continued for two more seasons. In 2021, after a devastating start to the season, the Kings fired Luke, which eventually helped him land with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He continues to be the assistant coach of the Cavs today.

He coached under the leadership of J. B. Bickerstaff, who was recently fired by the Cavs after their playoff run came to an end with a Conference Semi-Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. As a head coach, Luke Walton did not find much success, but as an assistant, Bill Walton’s son continues to be an asset.