WARLOCK1239 | Bulls

2121 | 7 hours ago

Going to end up? I already forgot until you reminded me

Defiant_Classroom_31 | Trail Blazers

416 | 7 hours ago

I’ll forget again as soon as I click out of this thread

delcoyo | Hornets

78 | 7 hours ago

Who’s clicking what thread now? What are we talking about?

nigevellie | HOU

17 | 5 hours ago

Bill Walton, I think

sltc27

18 | 5 hours ago

Walton Goggins coached the Warriors?

nigevellie | HOU

9 | 4 hours ago

No, he played Uncle Baby Billy who was one of God’s Warriors.

seabreamnigiri | Pistons

1 | 35 minutes ago

I don’t remember Michael Bolton coaching the Warriors

Defiant_Classroom_31 | Trail Blazers

1 | 29 minutes ago

You can just call me Mike

BlockedbyJake420

0 | 3 hours ago

*Walmart Goggins

Character_Bug_1862

0 | 5 hours ago

“…” - me

NYKBarca7

2 | 5 hours ago

eyes, mouth, eyes. nothing to see here, folks

JayGatsby1881

1 | 3 hours ago

Forgot as soon as i started reading

macro3

77 | 6 hours ago

yeah, walton’s 39-4 start is the only thing keeping his coaching career from being a blank wikipedia page

Cudi_buddy | Kings

36 | 6 hours ago

One of the worst coaches I have seen, and there have been a lot of bad coaches that came through Sacramento.

AmIFromA | Cabo Verde

17 | 5 hours ago

Maybe he’s the Pep Guardiola of Basketball. Pep has only coached the best teams that exist, with funds to get the best players for his playstyle. He has never proven to be a good coach for teams that are equivalent to the Sacramento Kings, and it probably wouldn’t work (come one Pep, prove me wrong! Go to Hannover 96!). Unfortunately, Walton did prove that he’s not a good coach for the Kings, and we’ll never know if he’d have an excellent career coaching only at dynasties.

yazanblue | MIN

7 | 3 hours ago

Eh I’d probably say Pep is Phil Jackson.

mucho-gusto | CLE

2 | 4 hours ago

Hey now, you can’t forget the guy puking on the floor or the sexual assault allegations now, can you?

kobeshaqhorry | West

1 | 3 hours ago

It’s the only reason he was offered the Lakers job in the first place.

Yayareasports | Warriors

42 | 6 hours ago

Well OP is also making things up.

If anyone bothers to even click into his link for his point (A), it is clearly stated that the long standing position of the league is to credit wins to the head coach, not the interim coach. And they ruled NOT to make an exception and change things up specifically for this case. So, no, they did not make a “sudden and meaningful change.”

Pickleskennedy1

23 | 6 hours ago

It wasn’t consistently enforced that way. Look up Paul Westhead on the 1980 Lakers, for example. Prior to Walton, the rule was that there were no rules

Yayareasports | Warriors

15 | 6 hours ago

There may be “exceptions” but the exception would have to be a ruling in favor of Walton, not the other way around as OP framed it. The longstanding practice is to give those wins to the head coach.

Excerpt from the exact article OP posted:

“As promised, the NBA has taken a fresh look at its position on the longstanding but informal practice on crediting wins earned by teams run by interim coaches not to that temporary leader, but rather to the head coach in whose stead the interim coach serves. Unfortunately for Golden State Warriors store-minder Luke Walton, who has moved up to the head of the Dubs’ bench in place of the injured Steve Kerr, who’s still working his way back to the club after offseason back surgery, the league has decided not to change things up.”

[deleted]

0 | 4 hours ago

[deleted]

Yayareasports | Warriors

3 | 4 hours ago

No, now you’re making things up. That season Cleamons was the head coach until he was fired. Then Don Nelson, the GM, took over and was head coach:

https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Cleamons-fired-ex-Warriors-boss-taking-over-3086482.php

And another Nelson leave where it’s clear he got credit: https://archive.is/2026.07.29-160811/https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/12/14/improving-don-nelson-ready-to-take-over-coaching-duties-for-golden-state-warriors/

If you’re struggling this hard to find an exception to the precedent, then I think it’s safe to say it was the precedent.

big_bear_mountain | Knicks

1 | 35 minutes ago

anyone on this sub could’ve coached that team to the same record. easiest gig in sports history

TomlinSteelers | 76ers

0 | 5 hours ago

Yeah me too

AceBricka

644 | 7 hours ago

Didn’t the crowd start throwing up because of how bad he coached in Sacramento?

SloshaPacana

497 | 7 hours ago

He has the 3rd best win % for Sacramento in the past like 50 years

If they were puking with him, they were shitting and puking with others

wittyrandomusername | Pistons

80 | 6 hours ago

There’s a very real possibility there.

cantgrowneckbeardAMA | Kings

24 | 4 hours ago

First of all, rude. Second of all… You’re not wrong.

delamerica93 | Kings

4 | 4 hours ago

Okay sure but he had a lot more talent to work with than most of our coaches lol

TrainedExplains | Warriors

2 | an hour ago

Yeah that actually wasn’t a bad squad.

ob_knoxious | Wizards

391 | 7 hours ago

Puke Walton. One guy sitting court side vomited buckets during a game. Like extended game delays to clean it all up. Walton was fired the next day.

Truly one of the funniest times on this sub.

Bulky-Scheme-9450

46 | 6 hours ago

Wasn’t that Tracy Morgan?

Hey_Its_Vos | Toronto Huskies

69 | 6 hours ago

No just a random king 👑 (‘s fan)

I think he threw up at a different game lol

ShotgunStyles | Kings

37 | 6 hours ago

Yep. Tracy Morgan stole that Kings’ fans whole flow. Word for word, bar for bar!

SoftSandwich6437 | Knicks

4 | 5 hours ago

🎵Tell meeeee what’s really goin on🎵

beno64 | Kings

5 | 5 hours ago

man…

welmoe | Lakers

2 | 4 hours ago

https://streamable.com/61hslw

welmoe | Lakers

2 | 4 hours ago

Never forget

https://streamable.com/61hslw

machiavellius | Lakers

2 | 4 hours ago

What a pull

welmoe | Lakers

2 | 4 hours ago

https://imgur.com/FcrSM5k

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

81 | 7 hours ago

Tbf Sacramento has been horrible nearly their whole existence besides brief tenures of C Webb and Kevin Martin days

Oaty_McOatface | Cavaliers Bandwagon

70 | 6 hours ago

And that one light the beam season

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

40 | 6 hours ago

Which they then got rid of the man who lead that team. It’s just terrible ownership and management and of course that trickles down

lakeshow_glasgow | Lakers

24 | 6 hours ago

I wonder what ever happened to him

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

11 | 5 hours ago

Idk I was told by reddit he’s a horrible coach so he probably never got another coaching gig

siggyjack | Nuggets Bandwagon

4 | 4 hours ago

He went bald from the stress of coaching the kings

the-big-aa | Lakers

4 | 5 hours ago

I heard he became part of the Baha Men actually…

NBAccount | Warriors

16 | 5 hours ago

Which they then got rid of the man who lead that team

It’s fine. That dude was a bum anyway. Definitely not a championship-level coach.

Angel_559_202020

1 | 3 hours ago

Also after 2023, They made no moves to improve and ran it back with the same roster even though the West was going to be tougher next season

Then After 2024, They signed DeMar DeRozan, who was proven to be a terrible fit

ShotgunStyles | Kings

2 | 6 hours ago

They weren’t that brief. Felt like a lifetime of success if you ask me.

FullmetalEzio | Mavericks

9 | 6 hours ago

like ofc kerr gets the credit, he built the team, chemistry, playset, everything, its easier to do your job when everything is working already. He got a chance to prove himself after that and shit the bed, op is crazy

RabbitWolfie | NBA

8 | 7 hours ago

And what does that have to do with anything?

EverybodyBuddy | Lakers

5 | 6 hours ago

Magic Johnson ended his relationship with the Lakers because they wouldn’t let him fire Walton

TomlinSteelers | 76ers

2 | 5 hours ago

I don’t believe that happened

Its_Hoggish_Greedly | Kings

1 | 4 hours ago

Don’t stop believing.

balortech

441 | 7 hours ago

Never forget dude got that gig in Sacramento off of this, completely misused the Fox and Hali combination,

and before allowing championship coach Mike Brown to test these 2 for abit, which seems a great fit on paper, they traded Hali. Lol.

ldclark92 | Pacers

176 | 7 hours ago

I don’t think there was a seriously viable path forward for the Fox-Hali combo. They’re both good players in their own right, but they both need the ball in their hands and neither are great on defense. That marriage was likely going to end no matter what. Even if Walton didn’t get the most out of it.

The biggest flub was choosing Fox over Hali. While I don’t think that trade was terrible in the moment and obviously led to the first Kings playoffs appearance in many years, I think ultimately that trade has aged poorly.

Fr0003 | Lakers

77 | 7 hours ago

Hali is known to be a ball-mover his entire career. Very few dribbles for a lead guard and is known to make quick decisions on the ball

ldclark92 | Pacers

22 | 7 hours ago

I’m aware. I’ve responded a few comments explaining. The issues go beyond just popping off ball. Primarily on the defensive end.

Bubbywubwub12

8 | 7 hours ago

He’s like the Jokic of guards.

balortech

15 | 7 hours ago

Nahh, Fox played a lot off ball with Sabonis being the central passing system and that got them to 3rd seed. He also plays off ball a lot for the Spurs which got them to the Finals. He’s an underrated off ball player. Hali is a shooter he’ll be fine playing off ball.

They both have attributes that complement each other really well. Fox is a scorer, athletic, slasher, great handles, sprinter of fast breaks. Hali is pass-first, shooter, court vision. With Mike Brown’s run and gun system Fox’s speed and Hali’s dishing would have been perfect.

And no, that’s a win. Trading Hali for Sabonis got them their greatest season in the past 20 years. First playoffs and the BeamTeam led by Fox. What they f up is not further building on that by trading No. 4 pick Keegan Murray for any of Siakam/Lauri/Ingram/OG/Mikal (2 of which were the perfect wings for Mike Brown NY team) and he bricked the Kings into playins. Hali for Sabonis was great. Keeping Hali and trading Fox with his low value would have gotten an average player and they wouldn’t have got BeamTeam.

ldclark92 | Pacers

10 | 7 hours ago

The defense is the biggest issue. Hali plays with another point guard right now in Andrew Nembhard. The biggest difference is Nembhard compliments Hali on defense. Nembhard can guard 1-3, so you can hide Hali on weaker offensive players. Fox would not provide any such advantage, making that pairing incredibly difficult to build around.

And while I understand your point about how they play offense, both play “off ball” but they’re still both very much primary ball handlers. Fox is at his best as the main ball handler, even if he can play off ball. The same goes for Hali. Being able to play some off ball, doesn’t mean that the best version of that player is taking the ball out of their hands.

I get the BeamTeam argument. I won’t fight that too much. I just think when you ultimately look back the fact that the guy they chose (Fox) is gone and they’d rather get off Sabonis now really lessens the impact of that trade 5 years later. Sure, I doubt Kings fans would ever give up the BeamTeam years, but from a roster management standpoint, I think the Kings would much rather have Hali now. Just my opinion at least.

balortech

11 | 6 hours ago

Fox is an underrated defender. He was a good defender under Mike Brown when he had to make up for Sabonis’ trash D.

Thats besides the argument anyway cause you just have to put defensive pieces around them if your stars aren’t defenders. Luka AR and Luka Kyrie worked. It wasn’t a focus.

Knerd5

2 | 4 hours ago

Luka AR worked

ehhhhhhh lets not get carried away here. The Luka AR combo in the playoffs is pretty fucking terrible.

Cletus_Starfish | POR

1 | 4 hours ago

I watched a lot of the Spurs this year and I thought Fox seemed like an alright defender too. I was a little confused by his reputation as a negative on that end. Like sure, he’s not a lockdown guy or anything, but he seemed perfectly passable to me.

ldclark92 | Pacers

-1 | 6 hours ago

Luka is a good reason why this is a challenge. Luka has been on teams who have struggled mightly on defense. And neither Fox nor Hali are Luka. Heck, neither are probably even Kyrie at his best.

Both Hali and Fox put good effort on defense. Both can be liabilities. It would be a challenging roster to assemble around these guys.

salted-egg-yolk

5 | 7 hours ago

i didn’t think I was going to be seeing anyone besides Knicks fans with kind words today about Fox just yet

i like your take here tho. just some residual trauma from watching that dude shrivel up in the playoffs

SloshaPacana

1 | 7 hours ago

They would have won with Fox/Hali without Sabonis, wasn’t worth one season of winning despite that season being their only fun season in 20 years because they could have had more with those two

balortech

2 | 7 hours ago

Like I said, the issue is that they didn’t pull the trigger on Keegan for any of Siakam/Lauri/Ingram/OG/Mikal to upgrade the BeamTeam. That man busted from 2nd season on averaging 12 PPG and 27% 3s with no offensive skillsets with No. 4 pick trade value. They would definitely extend the BeamTeam more years had they done that.

They would have been a spooky team with Fox - Monk - DeMar - Siakam - Sabonis. Would also take Siakam away from Hali and the Pacers who was their best player in the Finals run. Hali was struggling to make playins without Siakam.

Angel_559_202020

1 | 3 hours ago

This is a terrible lineup with many holes

SloshaPacana

1 | 7 hours ago

This is completely false

Both Fox/Hali can play off ball and have in the past, Fox is doing it right now, he attempted most shots but Sabonis ran that offense and Haliburton can shoot plus he was a ¹⁵⁄₈ player with Fox before they traded him, Hali always passes quick and makes good decisions

What they should have done is get rid of useless Sabonis who is an awful archetype of a player in this meta of basketball

With those two on ball it would have been way better than with Sabonis, Sabonis is just such a bad player in modern basketball, he puts up numbers but he’s rim protection, defense is just so bad

wompk1ns | Supersonics

9 | 7 hours ago

How do you think they got Sabonis lol

SloshaPacana

3 | 7 hours ago

I meant even after getting him they should have traded him, they were teams in for him and he had some value after the first two seasons

The ideal scenario would have been never trading Hali and building around those two but even after, keep Fox and trade Sabonis when he had that value

ldclark92 | Pacers

1 | 7 hours ago

I said it in another comment, but both of them being able to play off ball doesn’t mean they aren’t primary ball handlers. Both are good at playing off ball in stretches or certain possessions, no argument. However, there’s a difference in being able to do that in given moments and having to play off of another ball handler in most possessions. Both Fox and Hali are at their best with the ball in their hands. Yes, they can play off ball and create offense without it, but those guys are both creators with the ball in their hands.

And as I said earlier, the biggest issue is on defense. Nembhard and Hali work so well together because Nembhard is an elite defensive perimeter defender. You can “hide” Hali much easier because of it. You would have no such advantages with Fox, which would be the biggest issue.

You could probably get away with the offense, but the defense would be nearly untenable. And even with Hali/Nembhard, the offense can be a bit clunky at times. The Pacers skew their playing time at times to give them onball possessions.

balortech

0 | 7 hours ago

Moot argument. Most star players are always at their best on ball except for select few like Klay Thompson (who wouldn’t be an AllStar without Steph but that’s for another day), that’s why they are star players because they are capable with the ball in their hands.

The fact that they CAN play off ball as you admitted make them ultra valuable as a duo because they can switch up between who has the ball who doesn’t and still be effective. A great coach like Mike Brown would have enabled them to and both of their attributes fit what Mike Brown wants to play too. Luke Walton just absolutely gutted them and coached them to the ground, he made everyone look bad.

A lot of players are great with ball in their hands but can’t play off ball. Admitting that Fox and Hali can means you already admit they got potential as a star duo. Luka and Kyrie both are better with the ball in their hands they made the Finals. Kawhi and Lowry both are better with ball in their hands and they won a championship. Being better with the ball in your hands is normal doesn’t mean you can’t play with someone just as good. Your point is moot.

ldclark92 | Pacers

1 | 6 hours ago

You continue to ignore my defensive points, which is my main concern. You could probably get away with any offensive misfits, but the defensive ones would be nearly untenable.

Again, even with Andrew Nembhard there are awkward possessions between he and Hali. The Pacers will skew their minutes to give both time on the ball. However, the entire reason those two work together is due to the fact that when it comes to crunch time, those two complement each other. You have both the defense and the offense you need. Playing both Fox and Hali in crunch time would leave your defense very vulnerable at a time when every bucket is extremely meaningful.

Fox and Hali can work offensively. That’s not the point I’m trying to make. Their redunduncies is what would make team building more difficult, especially defensively.

balortech

1 | 6 hours ago

Doesn’t matter with your nitpicking, there are numerous other stars who are both bad defenders. We are not talking bout a championship here, Fox and Hali will work, it’s up to how the rest of the roster turns out.

Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland got No. 1 seed for the Cavs, later on Mitch and Harden made ECF Finals. Don’t make it seem like it’s doomsday with them.

ldclark92 | Pacers

1 | 6 hours ago

I just think you’re really underselling the challenges of building that roster. Call it nitpicking all you want, but I don’t think you get the best version of either of those guys together.

Is there a world where they could’ve been decent? Sure, I can see a decent team built around those two. Do I think you maximize those guys playing them together? No, I don’t.

EverybodyBuddy | Lakers

1 | 6 hours ago

Funny how Lakers are trying that combo again with Luka-Reaves. In a much more punitive cap era too

Knerd5

1 | 3 hours ago

Lakers shoulda dumped AR last year when he was ballin. That combo in the playoffs, eeeeesh.

smalls_1804 | Knicks

1 | 5 hours ago

I thought it was terrible in the moment. Even at that moment in time playmaking skills were at a premium in a league that really came to prioritize isolation scoring, and Hali was already a very good playmaker as a rookie and showed out anytime Fox missed a game. Sabonis for all his skillset put such a hard cap on your team’s ceiling because he is a center who can’t play defense which creates all kinds of team building problems. So the Kings traded a potential franchise cornerstone for a guy who is very good and would help them win games but would at best lead them to sustained first-round exits in a stacked western conference. It made no sense at the time even if people thought it did and in hindsight it was a fucking disaster

WaterInThere | Kings

1 | 4 hours ago

Rumor is Kings offered Fox and Pacers said no they wanted Hali.

Could be face saving after the fact, but lots of people agreed it would be the call to make.

SAM12489 | Warriors

4 | 7 hours ago

It’s almost like that GSW roster was so stacked it could coach its self.

Too bad they choked :-( what a waste of the best year in NBA history

ShotgunStyles | Kings

3 | 6 hours ago

If you say Luke Walton too much, then all I can do is barf on the floor.

balortech

1 | 6 hours ago

We all want to say it. Puke Walton.

BeamsFuelJetSteel | Timberwolves

1 | 7 hours ago

Still the second best coach the Kings have had in the past twenty years (Out of 13 coaches)

TruckThunders00

191 | 7 hours ago

i could have coached that team into the playoffs

notimprezaed | Hornets

106 | 7 hours ago

“Yeah guys uhhh just remember to hydrate and uhhh just keep doing that thing where you score a bunch!”

SoftSandwich6437 | Knicks

11 | 5 hours ago

And to get your prostate checked every year starting at age 17. And don’t take no for an answer

RocketStr8UpMyAss | Heat

5 | 4 hours ago

Coach?

obvy_sure | Grizzlies

1 | 8 minutes ago

my doctor says its weird that i want it monthly. fuck these shaming doctors

oochiewallyWallyserb | Knicks

5 | 5 hours ago

“Guys, coach is right, it’s on us! If we wanna win, we’re gonna have to hit the ball”

Luck_Top | East

22 | 7 hours ago

Go hard on them dudes.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

5 | 6 hours ago

^^^^ Doc Rivers is on reddit?

ksn0vaN7

3 | 2 hours ago

Some of the players were coaching that team at one point. Doc Rivers could’ve… well maybe not Doc but someone like Jim Boylen could’ve won with that team.

interrogatories | Trail Blazers

1 | an hour ago

a cardboard cutout of doc rivers perhaps

fwoompf | Pistons

116 | 7 hours ago

that’s assistant coach to JB Bickerstaff to you!

nemo2023 | Pistons

25 | 7 hours ago

I don’t know how important Luke has been to the Pistons but he’s been on staff for several years. What do you think he focuses on?

JasonWaterfaII | Pistons

32 | 6 hours ago

Being the good cop to JB’s bad cop. He’s always the first one to go up to players when they get pulled from the game and look upset about it. Camera showed him do it with Ausar a lot and Beef Stew a few times.

fwoompf | Pistons

10 | 7 hours ago

I have no clue

AH_BioTwist | Kings

7 | 7 hours ago

Lead assistant to JB bickerstaff at that

MakeShiftDie

70 | 6 hours ago

another fun fact: Kerr won the NBA Coach of the Year award with the fewest wins in a single season, finishing with a 33–48 record.

But it’s not Steve.

Johnny “Red” Kerr of the Chicago Bulls, 33–48 record won NBA Coach of the Year award during the 1966–67 Season

LonelySpaghetto1

16 | 6 hours ago

Who would win:

34-5 Kerr

vs

33-48 Kerr

SoftSandwich6437 | Knicks

3 | 5 hours ago

Why did he end up winning?

Metalock | Knicks

27 | 5 hours ago

Took the Bulls to the playoffs in their first ever season. Still remains the only coach to coach an expansion team to the postseason in their inaugural season, and the only coach to win Coach of the Year with a losing record.

Zyntaro

8 | 5 hours ago

Still remains the only coach to coach an expansion team to the postseason in their inaugural season

Well that kind of explains it. Expansion teams are usually horrendous in their first season for obvious reasons

Known-Peak212 [OP]

11 | 4 hours ago

Still, Alex Hannum was brutally snubbed. Coached the Sixers to a then record 68 wins while transforming Wilt’s game, and finished second in voting

zgillet

2 | 6 hours ago

Damn. I need to look that team up. They must have been AWFUL on paper.

BuffaloSorcery | Jazz

65 | 7 hours ago

Walton had the same coaching staff as Kerr, which is more likely the reason for the impressive record during his “head coaching” tenure. Its a lot harder to pull a Puke Walton when you have a bunch of other experienced coaches around you to help.

jdd32 | Spurs

39 | 6 hours ago

Also the coaching system and culture that Kerr created was a well oiled machine at that point. Self sustaining.

In my line of work(manufacturing), we say that the real test of if you’re a good manager or not, is how well things run when you aren’t there. If everything falls to shit when you’re gone, then you haven’t set up a proper system and team.

Ok_Hornet_714

41 | 7 hours ago

Won’t be completely forgotten because there is a note about it on the team page for the 2016 Warriors on basketball reference and on Luke’s coaching page

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2016.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/waltolu01c.html

SacTownHoops

40 | 7 hours ago

watching walton here in sacramento was rough lol. the 24-0 start with the warriors was honestly just the perfect situation - kerr’s system was already locked in, the roster knew exactly what to do, and there was zero pressure cause everyone knew kerr was coming back. once he had to actually build something from scratch it became clear real quick

Yayareasports | Warriors

32 | 6 hours ago

Did you even read the article you posted for A? They’ve almost always credited wins to the head coach, not the interim coach. There was no “sudden and meaningful change.” In fact, they didn’t change anything.

“As promised, the NBA has taken a fresh look at its position on the longstanding but informal practice on crediting wins earned by teams run by interim coaches not to that temporary leader, but rather to the head coach in whose stead the interim coach serves. Unfortunately for Golden State Warriors store-minder Luke Walton, who has moved up to the head of the Dubs’ bench in place of the injured Steve Kerr, who’s still working his way back to the club after offseason back surgery, the league has decided not to change things up.”

Pickleskennedy1

-1 | 4 hours ago

The difference was that it went from them deciding arbitrarily on a case by case basis to officially enforcing that interim head coaches couldn’t get credit unless they took over and the head coach never came back

Yayareasports | Warriors

9 | 4 hours ago

Which is effectively the precedent they had set with prior rulings (including their ruling for Westhead that you posted above).

There was no sudden change in this case as OP stated. They just formalized what they had been applying in most prior cases.

So it’s effectively a non story for Walton as opposed to point (A) in OP’s post, with the claim that this was a meaningful change.

[deleted]

-1 | 4 hours ago

[deleted]

Yayareasports | Warriors

4 | 4 hours ago

As you commented elsewhere and then just deleted once I corrected you (in Don Nelson’s case), you’re struggling really hard to find any examples to the contrary.

So I think that’s safe to assume it is a precedent. And the article notes it as such as well. I think you’re failing to distinguish what it means for there to be a precedent (which did exist) vs. a hard rule (which was created to formalize the precedent).

And no, OP definitely mischaracterized it by saying this was unexpected and a change in Walton’s case. All this did was formalize the existing precedent as it always had been previously applied.

Pickleskennedy1

1 | 4 hours ago

The precedent part is a fair point. OP didn’t that it was unexpected, and they said the change was that it became an official ruling preventing coaches in Walton’s position from receiving credit, which seems to be accurate.

Yayareasports | Warriors

3 | 4 hours ago

OP called it a sudden and meaningful change. Which is very misleading to start his whole argument around.

CC-Wild

2 | 4 hours ago

It’s not a clear cut “did he return or not” rule. The NBA’s statement at the time only clarified what the rule is (the team’s wins and losses go to the “head coach of record”), while also stating that interim coaches are eligible for coaching awards.

A similar issue happened with the Spurs recently. The team’s wins and losses were originally given to Popovich after he suffered a stroke. Even after he retired in early May 2025, those games were still on his career record. It was 2 months later, in early July, that the NBA decided to reassign the wins and losses to Mitch Johnson. Technically, Johnson wasn’t the “head coach of record” until Pop’s retirement, but the Spurs worked with the league to have the wins/losses reassigned retroactively.

The basketball reference page you posted to only lists Jim Cleamons (fired after starting 4-12) and his replacement, Don Nelson (16-50), as the head coaches. So, I’m not sure where you’re seeing that Nelson’s assistants got credited.

NFWI | Bucks

27 | 7 hours ago

Do people think Kerr had zero input while he was out? I’m sure he communicated with the coaching staff and players on a regular basis, even if he wasn’t at the games in person.

vbob99

9 | 7 hours ago

It’s still very questionable to assign coaching wins to someone who wasn’t in the building coaching. I can’t imagine what the rationale possibly could be.

Jhyphi

8 | 3 hours ago

He still coached and set in place the entire system and worked with the assistants on overall substitution patterns. Which is 90% of the work.

Its like how you credit the war general (ex. Grant) with the overall strategy and victory, not the Sergeant who may have made some small decisions and adjustments to the already established overall plan (moving substitution patterns slightly).

Statalyzer

1 | 2 hours ago

But if Grant spent 2 months on medical leave while Meade was actively commanding the army on a day to day basis and won several big battles, or e.g. at Midway when Halsey was in the hospital with shingles and Spruance and Fletcher executed his plan with the carriers he had previously led and trained and worked up with hit and run raids for experience.

vbob99

1 | 2 hours ago

I get all that, but a W-L is for coaching a game, not all the other things involved in coaching. You can have zero prepared system, zero prepared patterns, coach a game, and the W-L is yours based on how the game goes.

An in-game coach does substitutions, calls timeouts, argues with the ref, talks to the team, etc. It is bizarre to have someone actually do that, and then say no, it was someone else. And in this case it’s outrageous. He did those actions for over half the season and en-masse they just passed those to another person. It is bizarre.

GorgoniteEmissary | Warriors

3 | an hour ago

You just said you can’t imagine what the rationale would be, seems like you can imagine it you just disagree with it. Do you think the tougher job when it comes to head coaching is in-game decision making? Or do you think the prep/game-plan/system/personality management/assistant coach hired contributes more towards winning? If you want a more straightforward way to think about it you could have you or I be the “head coach” in Walton’s spot and we likely would go over .500 with that team and the built in system/lineups. If you put either of us in charge of the other stuff (system, game-plan, etc.) and Walton in charge of the in game stuff we would be the worst team in the league (assuming the players didn’t just ignore us completely and do their own thing).

vbob99

1 | an hour ago

You just said you can’t imagine what the rationale would be

I’ll inject a word. I can’t imagine what a reasonable rationale would be.

No reason to pretend other people don’t understand coaching involves more than in-game action. That’s “coaching”. But a W/L is for coaching a game, and that’s what has been reassigned.

The best analogy is that if a player is injured, you don’t reassign the assists/points/blocks/steals from his replacement to that injured player, even if that player is running the same plays in the style of the injured party. The injured party did all the practices to get the team into a position to do the win, but they didn’t perform in that game. The replacement coach did the coaching in that game in the same way.

GorgoniteEmissary | Warriors

1 | 33 minutes ago

I wont pretend I can come up with a perfect analogy but you and I both know that a player in the game getting stats is quite a bit different than the coach on the sidelines. If anything your analogy helps highlight the flaw in your thinking, a coach on the sidelines does not have nearly as much impact on how a player performs in a given game as the coach that installs the system/plays/works with these guys before the game. I also didn’t pretend you didn’t understand coaching, my comment actually presupposes you do understand it because I question which part you think is more important. I also notice you didn’t respond to my entire point, which part of coaching do you think is more impactful on team performance, day-of sideline coaching or behind the scenes stuff?

vbob99

1 | 30 minutes ago

a player in the game getting stats is quite a bit different than the coach on the sidelines

No, it is as close as you can get. It is the event itself happening, and the results on the field. And you don’t reassign results to someone who wasn’t there and didn’t do the actions. Coaching a game is an active in-game role. Coaching in general is something else, which includes active in-game coaching. W/L results are awarded based on active in-game coaching, not the other stuff.

I also notice you didn’t respond to my entire point, which part of coaching do you think is more impactful on team performance, day-of sideline coaching or behind the scenes stuff?

It’s a mixture of course. But there is no world where you can appeal to the league saying just give me that win because I have a better system. The W/L of it all 100% REFLECTS what happened on that given day, not the prep. What contributed is not considered.

bchhun | Warriors

1 | 3 hours ago

People make the mistake thinking coaching is _only_ what you say immediately on the court. Phil Jackson was famous for enabling his players to learn and know how to play without that intervention.

vbob99

0 | 2 hours ago

There is coaching, and then there is coaching a game, which is what we’re talking about. It’s strange to have the league to assign a win for coaching a game, when you.. didn’t coach the game.

SJCitizen | 76ers

14 | 7 hours ago

I still don’t think Kerr should’ve won Coach of the Year that season. There was no way they weren’t going to give it to the coach that broke the single season wins record but record or not he missed over half of the season. I thought Pop or Stotts should’ve won it instead. San Antonio won 67 games despite Duncan clearly declining and Portland lost LaMarcus Aldridge and replaced him with Noah Vonleh and still won 44 games

Known-Peak212 [OP]

14 | 7 hours ago

Realistically, Kerr not getting it the year before (in favor of coach Bud on the Hawks) also played into it.

MirrorComputingRulez | Cavaliers

5 | 4 hours ago

There was no way they weren’t going to give it to the coach that broke the single season wins record

But no single coach did that.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

0 | 5 hours ago

When a team wins 73 games, you have to give it to the coach.

MirrorComputingRulez | Cavaliers

2 | 4 hours ago

Then why didn’t Walton win it?

dearth_karmic | Warriors

3 | 3 hours ago

Because he wasn’t the coach. Can you win coach of the year as an assistant ?

MirrorComputingRulez | Cavaliers

2 | 3 hours ago

He literally was the coach though, for most of the season. That’s the entire point of this post.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

2 | 3 hours ago

I get that. But he was filling in temporarily. The judges obviously thought it was Steve Kerr’s team. And while the first 43 games were super important, Steve Kerr was there for the entire second half when they actually broke the record. Which is kind of the harder part. Keeping your players focused down the stretch. Either way, they should have shared the award (43 games and 39 games) and I think Kerr would agree.

vbob99

1 | 2 hours ago

You can’t break a record in the second half without all those wins from the first half. Kerr coached less than half of the total wins, the other guy coached the greater share. If you’re looking only at what happened in the actual game the record was broken, I suppose you could get by on coaching exactly one game, which most people would say is pretty nonsensical.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

1 | 18 minutes ago

I’m not saying that. But I watched every minute of every single game. It’s a lot easier to run off wins early with no pressure. Once the record got close, it was a different story to try to chase it.

MirrorComputingRulez | Cavaliers

0 | 42 minutes ago

I get that.

That’s not really obvious, because you literally just said he wasn’t.

Steve Kerr was there for the entire second half when they actually broke the record. Which is kind of the harder part.

This makes literally no sense.

vbob99

1 | 2 hours ago

Apparently yes, you are eligible for coaching awards as an assistant, as long as you coach the games.

chief1555 | Knicks

7 | 7 hours ago

Even though they ended up being unsubstantiated, the sexual assault allegations probably didn’t help anything, re: future coaching opportunities. Then again, Rick Brunson was accused of similar stuff and still has a job so who knows

sakuraba216

5 | 6 hours ago

Thanks for reminding us, Luke Walton

smalls_1804 | Knicks

4 | 5 hours ago

It’s forgotten because the Warriors had already been a dominant team and were clearly a system team coming into that season. Kerr had created the system and drilled it into the players, so all Walton had to do was basically paint by numbers. You’re right that it’s a wild fact that will be lost to our collective memory but just flagging that the reason is that Walton really doesn’t deserve any credit for it and proved that by flaming out as a Head Coach afterwards

Itsyaboibiggyt | Bulls

2 | 6 hours ago

wow i totally forgot about this dude

ContinuingAnyway

2 | 6 hours ago

Kings legend Luke Walton

pint_of_popov | Lakers

2 | 6 hours ago

Lakers fans will never forget.

imminentjogger5 | Warriors

2 | 6 hours ago

GOAT Interim coach

jonnysh | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

wait what?

Navajo_Nation | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

Yeah because it was the coaching that did it…

mking22 | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

I’ll tell you what, that first year he coached the lakers, their offensive was so fun to watch…especially with Julius Randle being a focus. I’m not sure why things fell apart, but I’ll always think of that season when I think of my guy Luke Walton.

JayGatsby1881

2 | 4 hours ago

I remember him being on the Kobe Shaq lakers, and not being a very good player lol.

thebignoodlehead | Kings

2 | 4 hours ago

Puke Walton???

bchhun | Warriors

2 | 3 hours ago

Luke Walton was trash and still shouldn’t be credited with those wins. The NBAs decision is fine.

YerrrKnicks | Knicks

2 | 36 minutes ago

People also forget that Mike Brown coached the Warriors during their 16-0 run in the playoffs.

Meaning the 13-0 Knicks run was only his second best Playoffs run.

Xanderpiglet | NBA

2 | 7 hours ago

Reason being is that many Warriors fans would rather forget that season because of how it ended.

CrapNBAappUser | Warriors

15 | 7 hours ago

I’m certainly in the minority then. Wonderful season and they were a well oiled machine. Steph got his 2nd MVP (1st unanimous and he got back to back MVPs) and it was thrilling watching them come back from 3-1 to OKC.

Xanderpiglet | NBA

3 | 7 hours ago

It was a wonderful season! But like how people misremember Game of Thrones as a whole because of the ending…

Isolated_Blackbird | Mavericks

1 | 7 hours ago

Oh, he’ll be remembered, just not for that. To add insult to injury, he will always be known as a fraction of the player his father was and then on top of that be known as a horrible coach. Poor fella.

At least he’s tall and rich.

TomlinSteelers | 76ers

4 | 5 hours ago

Never struck me as a massive insult to be worse than your father.

People make fun of Bronny for same reason even though he is better than 99.99% of basketball players

Soylent_Milk2021 | Nuggets

2 | 5 hours ago

Hell, half the league is made of the sons of guys I grew up watching. None of them (with one notable exception) are as good a their fathers, but a lot of them are making their mark in their own way. There’s no shame in that if your dad is in the Hall Of Fame.

Statalyzer

2 | 2 hours ago

Almost all NBA players including plenty of Hall of Fame guys were worse than Bill Walton was at his peak.

XxsteakiixX | Suns

1 | 6 hours ago

i mean the dude went on to coach the kings into total disaster so tbh there is no credit for luke on that team besides just making sure they showed up LOL

XxPINEAPPLExX04 | Raptors

1 | 5 hours ago

Shows how little coaching matters

TomlinSteelers | 76ers

2 | 5 hours ago

In football it matters a ton - even more than players in some instances. I legit might choose prime Belichik for my team over prime Brady.

In basketball it matters far less

Robinsonirish | Finland

1 | 5 hours ago

Maybe on a micro, but certainly not on a macro scale. The culture, plays, principles, and rest of staff were all there.

Eltonbeef

1 | 5 hours ago

Because it doesn’t matter

FrozenFlamethrowers | DET

1 | 4 hours ago

“Coached”

Ok_Cockroach8063

1 | 4 hours ago

Kerr wasn’t dead he was just out. I’m sure there were phone calls and texts to both coaching staff and players. Also let’s be real Walton’s job was so easy we could do it

TimeAll | Lakers

1 | 4 hours ago

I think the NBA and fans just assumed that Kerr was calling in plays to Walton while resting on his bed. That’s what I assume and I’m sticking to it.

sleeping_in | Suns

1 | 3 hours ago

Bear down

openwolfe

1 | 3 hours ago

Mike Brown coached the warriors during most of a playoff championship run and no one talks about that either. Tough shit.

TeamLeeper

1 | 3 hours ago

Ol’ Auto-Pilot Luke got paid for his services.

Fake_Account_69420

1 | 3 hours ago

If he was such a good coach why couldn’t he actually coach teams that weren’t one of the greatest of all time?

SharpMind94 | Cavaliers

2 | 2 hours ago

It just shows how insane the talent the Warriors had

vbob99

2 | 2 hours ago

He doesn’t have to be “such a good coach”, he should just get credit for results in the games that he actually coached. It seems very straightforward. We don’t transfer points scored from a replacement player to an injured starter either.

Briggity_Brak | Tampa Bay Raptors

1 | 2 hours ago

It absolutely would’ve been remembered if he wasn’t complete dogshit as a headcoach every time he got an official job.

It IS really fucking stupid that Kerr won coach of the year that year.

soycameron | Trail Blazers

1 | 28 minutes ago

I could’ve coached that team and they woulda still won at least 65 games lmao

Repulsive_Pianist_60 | Warriors

0 | 6 hours ago

He was the assigned assistant coach using the same coaching principles and plays they practiced with Kerr. It wasnt like he came there using his own.

DarkKnightCometh | Lakers

0 | 6 hours ago

Trust me, I’d love to forget. That basically got him the Lakers job.

IMovedYourCheese | Warriors

0 | 5 hours ago

Guy coached a bunch of generational superstars coming off a championship season in a system Kerr had already perfected.

Even then because of his half season performance he got 3-year head coaching stints with two different teams and shat the bed for both of them.

So if he isn’t remembered today that’s entirely on him. He had plenty of opportunity to prove himself.

vbob99

2 | 4 hours ago

It’s still crazy to assign coaching wins to someone who isn’t coaching.

Statalyzer

1 | 2 hours ago

Imagine if we did that for players when they sat out.

vbob99

2 | 2 hours ago

Or transferring the points/assists/blocks from the replacement player and assigning them to the injured player who didn’t even suit up. It’s just absolutely bizarre.

norriscolesucks

0 | 5 hours ago

who the hell even thinks about this except for Kerr haters? those guys even gassed up Walton when he had like a 5 win streak in Sacramento with Fox out.

Edbtz-31311 | Lakers

-1 | 5 hours ago

Honestly, that regular season means nothing to anyone except warriors fans because they didn’t win it all. That was probably my favorite szn of basketball because they were so incredible to watch, I didn’t miss a game. But the record means dick all, it was HOW BADLY they were blowing out every single team in the NBA. Curry was sitting the second half of the majority of games, such beautiful ball movement and play style. It was truly unstoppable, until it wasn’t.

Soylent_Milk2021 | Nuggets

3 | 5 hours ago

It’s still the best regular season record ever. It just so happens to be followed by a record collapse in the finals.

Particular-Pin6034 | Warriors

-1 | 5 hours ago

“Coached”

I feel like it’s going to end up being almost completely forgotten that Luke Walton coached the Warriors for most of their record setting 73-9 regular season