Luke still has a bad back. might not play next season

[Pablo Escobar]

Get well soon Luke

[Reason_]

I guess Sasha is going to have more minutes this year. Maybe Ebanks will take Walton's garbage time now.

[Mamba Venom]

OK I have supported LUKE long enough.

Who cares why this guy is PAPER soft BUT he if he can't do his job, I want him fired ,terminated traded, bought out - whatever.

Kobe plays w/ broken fingers on one leg while battling the flu.

Luke's dad SUED the Blazers for giving him the shot he ASKED for so he could play in a play-off game. (What do you think Kobe thinks of that?) Luke grew up with his Dad justifying why he did what he did. Luke believes he isnt suppose to play UNLESS he is wakes up on the right side of the bed, doesnt cut himself while shaving, drives to the practice court without braking too hard, makes it to the practice court without stepping on a crack or stubbing his toe, manages to stretch without feeling anything pull and when he gets into his defensive stance he doesnt go too low to the ground causing discomfort.

Lukes contract is a plague. The name Walton is why we dont have 18 championships and why Boston dosnt have 15.

I've ignored it and justified for 6 years. I've lied to myself when we got him. I'm sorry but even watching Star Wars movies as a kid wont convince me to lie about the type of player Luke is.

Luke's contract is the reason Buss has had to play Russian Roulette with Odom, Fish & Phil Jackson the last 2 seasons. We are just really that the gun didnt go off and hurt our beloved Lakers. Eventually Lukes contract WILL hurt us and that is why I just want him gone already. I'm so tired of hearing about his back. It makes me want to puke!

[realfung]

Whta's wrong with him?

[larry14r]

OK I have supported LUKE long enough.

Who cares why this guy is PAPER soft BUT he if he can't do his job, I want him fired ,terminated traded, bought out - whatever.

Kobe plays w/ broken fingers on one leg while battling the flu.

Luke's dad SUED the Blazers for giving him the shot he ASKED for so he could play in a play-off game. (What do you think Kobe thinks of that?) Luke grew up with his Dad justifying why he did what he did. Luke believes he isnt suppose to play UNLESS he is wakes up on the right side of the bed, doesnt cut himself while shaving, drives to the practice court without braking too hard, makes it to the practice court without stepping on a crack or stubbing his toe, manages to stretch without feeling anything pull and when he gets into his defensive stance he doesnt go too low to the ground causing discomfort.

Lukes contract is a plague. The name Walton is why we dont have 18 championships and why Boston dosnt have 15.

I've ignored it and justified for 6 years. I've lied to myself when we got him. I'm sorry but even watching Star Wars movies as a kid wont convince me to lie about the type of player Luke is.

Luke's contract is the reason Buss has had to play Russian Roulette with Odom, Fish & Phil Jackson the last 2 seasons. We are just really that the gun didnt go off and hurt our beloved Lakers. Eventually Lukes contract WILL hurt us and that is why I just want him gone already. I'm so tired of hearing about his back. It makes me want to puke!

Hear's the thing we reason why Boston still has more titles than us is because we sucked vs Boston for all those years so do give me that excuse. Hell even Kobe can tell you that he blew it in 08.

[Edrees]

Look it was a bad contract but it's not like it prevented us from winning any championships. It's like driving a car and hitting a bug, it makes your car dirty but you still make it to where you want to go.

[LApwnd]

Look it was a bad contract but it's not like it prevented us from winning any championships. It's like driving a car and hitting a bug, it makes your car dirty but you still make it to where you want to go.

Luke is more like a rock chip, its always gona be an eyesore but you're kind iffy if you want to spend money to get rid of it

[stan1981]

Luke's contract was fine back then, he was a solid role player. No one could have known that he'll decline pretty fast and he'll have health issues. Such things happen all the time, there have been hundreds of failed prospects in the NBA

[LApwnd]

Luke's contract was fine back then, he was a solid role player. No one could have known that he'll decline pretty fast and he'll have health issues. Such things happen all the time, there have been hundreds of failed prospects in the NBA

his #'s were avg. even in that contract year, only reason it looked good cause his #'s prior was crap just like what happened after that year and Mitch outbid himself, so its a bad contract from the start, at least the length part, who gives a role player 6 yrs?

[Danny Darko]

It was borderline starter money and for way to freaking long... I look at it like this though: Mitch would not have learned his lesson if he hadn't learned about paying guys like Luke or being wowed by a contract year wonder like the Machine. He's made great moves this year, especially if he gets Brown for a steal or lets him walk now that we have Barnes (who makes 1.8 mill and is a million times better than Luke uggg)

[iQon]

I really don't get the fuss about Luke. Eliminate his contract and we're still way over the cap for another 4 or 5 years.

Or, count his contract and we've still won the West 3 years straight. Already won it all back to back. Likely to 3peat. And even if he's healthy, he's like our 9th best player. Who cares about this guy? There's a bad contract on every team. Every GM makes horrible signings.

And the irony of it all is, if Luke retired, Buss wouldn't replace him with anybody better. Probably just a bunch of rookies and you'd all just complain about them until we sign some superstar. Endless cycle.

[The Skyhook]

Walton's contract doesn't really effect the Lakers this season. Like someone pointed out the Lakers would still be over the cap without Luke Walton. I believe where it could hurt the Lakers is next season. Sasha coming off the books is cap relief but it just isn't that much. The Lakers will once again have the Bi Annual Exemption and the MLE to use next offseason. The issues is whether or not Jerry Buss would be willing to spend more money with around 90 million dollars in guaranteed contracts. If Walton's contract were coming off the books it would have been a huge cap relief. If that were the case I believe Jerry Buss would have been encouraged to spend more next offseason.

With a guy like Jamal Crawford being an unrestricted FA there might be a chance the Lakers could persuade him to come play for the MLE and it would suck if being over the cap hurt our the Lakers chances of doing so.

[Boognish]

Luke is the yeast that butters my toast

[stan1981]

If nothing significant changes (in terms of CBA), Kobe's, Pau's and Drew's contracts alone will put us above the cap next year. Then we have Lamar, Artest, Blake and Fisher for another ~23 mil above the cap. Luke's contract is a drop in the ocean, with or without him we can not be FA players for the next 3 years (unless Kobe and Pau both agree on severe pay cuts)

[CodyB_]

Devastating. I know.

How do we soften this enormous blow and at least partially fill the void that is left by Walton's , and his greatness, absence?

Is it possible to get an injury exception?

[Danny Darko]

Your answers lie in the Walton thread that this is being merged into

[LApwnd]

I really don't get the fuss about Luke. Eliminate his contract and we're still way over the cap for another 4 or 5 years.

Or, count his contract and we've still won the West 3 years straight. Already won it all back to back. Likely to 3peat. And even if he's healthy, he's like our 9th best player. Who cares about this guy? There's a bad contract on every team. Every GM makes horrible signings.

And the irony of it all is, if Luke retired, Buss wouldn't replace him with anybody better. Probably just a bunch of rookies and you'd all just complain about them until we sign some superstar. Endless cycle.

how bout the fact we might loose Brown because Dr. Buss might not want to add more salary....not a major loss but least he actually contributes something rather then just sit on the bench all day collecting $5mill to hold a clip board, he makes more then some head coaches.

[LLcoleJ]

Hate to break it to some of you, but Luke seems to be ok. Well, that's because I saw him playing ( with Farmar) at the Hermosa Beach Sand Volleyball tourney.

[AceFresh]

It's crazy that Luke was actually playing crucial minutes for us just over a year ago:

http://lakersmedia.com/Flash/playoffs-g ... ights.html

that poster on melo haha