How a meditating Phil Jackson influenced coach Luke Walton

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Before starting his coaching career, Sacramento Kings head coach Luke Walton got a chance to learn directly from one of the greatest minds in NBA history.

Walton played under 11-time champion coach Phil Jackson in the Los Angeles Lakers over a decade ago, where he got two championships in 2009 and 2010.

Now that he transitioned to calling the shots, Walton said he took a lot from Jackson’s playbook on and off the court.

“He’s a huge influence on me as a person – not just a basketball player, but definitely as a basketball coach,” Walton said of Jackson, who also mentored the Chicago Bulls to 6 championships in the ‘90s.

“He used to have us meditate. At first, I thought it was crazy, but as I got older and grew and embraced it, I could see the benefits that it had. And there was so much that he understood about the game as a whole.

“And staying calm and collected, for the most part, throughout a competition [as] being an effective way of winning, are things that I continue to work on myself and traits that I continue to try to pass on to the players that I coach.”

 

 

Jackson is among the key figures featured in The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary series on Michael Jordan and the Bulls. 

Walton thinks there’s a lot to learn from the documentary, including the challenges faced by a team building a dynasty.

“I think some of the footage and messaging that’s portrayed, whether it’s from Michael (Jordan) or whoever in those first two episodes, there’s a lot to learn from that,” Walton said in a recent media conference call.

The Last Dance also features snippets of Bill Walton, Luke’s father, who was visibly upset when Jordan dropped 63 points against his squad, the Boston Celtics, in the 1986 NBA playoffs.

“I did have some good laughs at my dad getting worked up there – he slammed the ball a few times on some fouls he had. I think he fouled out that game [Jordan] had 63. But it was fun to watch,” he said. 

Final push

Walton thinks his own team has started to play on a different level as the players understand their roles.

The Kings were trying to make a final push for the playoffs as they won 7 of their last 10 games, including an upset win over the Los Angeles Clippers, before the league got suspended last March 11. 

“We were playing high-level basketball. As far as a team embracing what it needs to do,” Walton said.

“What I mean by that is individuals understanding their roles, individuals understanding what we need out of them and those individuals making sacrifices for the betterment of the team.

“I think that’s why we were winning games at a pretty solid rate towards the end. As a coach, that is what you’re looking for.”

The Kings mentor also said injured forward Marvin Bagley III is doing great in his recovery but doesn’t expect him to get cleared if the NBA resumes despite the long layoff.

Bagley, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 Draft, suffered from multiple injuries this season – a fractured thumb he sustained on opening night and a foot sprain in December – that limited him to just 13 games this season, where he’s averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds.

“Marvin is doing great,” said Walton. “He feels much better and he’s been asking for film clips, we’ve been sending him videos to study, and he’s excited about playing ball again.”

Despite the possibility that their playoff bid will be put to waste in case the league gets terminated, Walton said the safety of everyone should still be the priority.

 “This is one of those rare circumstances in life where the safety of everyone involved is really what we’re thinking about,” he said.

“If that means that were the case then hey, we continue to look forward. We continue to learn from what we did have this year and we take that information and we go full steam ahead into next season.” – Rappler.com