Luke Walton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Forward |
|---|---|
| Height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Weight | 232 lb (105 kg) |
| Team | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Born | March 28, 1980 (age 27) San Diego, California |
| College | Arizona |
| Draft | 2nd round, 32nd overall, 2003 Los Angeles Lakers |
| Pro career | 2003–present |
Luke Theodore Walton (born March 28, 1980 in San Diego, California) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His position is small forward.
The son of former NBA great Bill Walton, Luke Walton was no stranger to the sport of basketball during his upbringing. His three brothers — Adam, Nathan (who unsuccessfully ran for governor during the 2003 California recall), and Chris — also play or have played basketball for their schools. Luke Walton has a tattoo on his arm representing himself and his brothers playing basketball.
After graduating from University of San Diego High School in 1998, Walton enrolled at the University of Arizona and majored in family studies. There, he played for the Wildcats under coach Lute Olson. In his junior year, Walton averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. As a fifth year senior, he averaged 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.9 steals.
Walton graduated from Arizona at the end of 2002, and was selected by the Lakers in the 2003 NBA Draft with the third pick of the second round (32nd overall). Standing at 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, Walton has been with the Lakers for his entire NBA career.
Walton has been praised for being skilled in the fundamentals of basketball: positioning, timing, and teamwork. Many NBA experts and enthusiasts view Walton as a smart player of the game who has a high basketball IQ and one who understands the game of basketball deeply. He is a good and precise passer who knows how to operate on plays like a good point guard, and his shot selection is good. He is also considered as an all-around player. Aside from guard-like passing skills, he also stretches his range past the three-point line, rebounds well, and works hard to disprove the critics who doubted his athleticism.
His passing skills brought him great success in the triangle offense under coach Phil Jackson. To some critics, however, believe Walton's tendency to pass rather than shoot occasionally hampers his team's offense. This habit was exemplified in one game at the end of the 2004–05 season in which the Lakers were down by a point with time running out and Walton was in position to score. Instead, he passed the ball to Kobe Bryant, who was unable to get a shot off. As the buzzer sounded, Bryant slammed the ball on the floor in frustration, though he later said he didn't blame Walton for the pass.
Walton suffered an injury in the 2004 preseason and was unable to find a place in Rudy Tomjanovich's rotation, but returned to a regular spot in the lineup after the coach's resignation midway through the season.
Walton enjoys great popularity among the Staples Center crowd. Fans are known to yell "Luuuuuuuke" when he gets the ball for the first time in a game, similar to the chants Laker fans have employed for players such as Michael Cooper and Smush Parker. As Walton shares a name with the Luke Skywalker character from Star Wars, whenever Walton scores, the beginning of the "Throne Room/End Credit" music from the Star Wars original soundtrack plays over the public address system. Walton, however, is not named after the Star Wars character; instead, he is named after his father Bill's close friend and former Portland Trailblazer teammate Maurice Lucas.
In 2006, Walton made a cameo appearance on the television soap opera, The Young and the Restless. [1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- NBA.com Profile - Luke Walton
- NBA & College statistics @ BasketballReference.com
| 2003 NBA Draft | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Round LeBron James | Darko Miličić | Carmelo Anthony | Chris Bosh | Dwyane Wade | Chris Kaman | Kirk Hinrich | T. J. Ford | Michael Sweetney | Jarvis Hayes | Mickaël Piétrus | Nick Collison | Marcus Banks | Luke Ridnour | Reece Gaines | Troy Bell | Žarko Čabarkapa | David West | Aleksandar Pavlović | Dahntay Jones | Boris Diaw | Zoran Planinić | Travis Outlaw | Brian Cook | Carlos Delfino | Ndudi Ebi | Kendrick Perkins | Leandro Barbosa | Josh Howard |
||
| Second Round Maciej Lampe | Jason Kapono | Luke Walton | Jerome Beasley | Sofoklis Schortsianitis | Szymon Szewczyk | Mario Austin | Travis Hansen | Steve Blake | Slavko Vraneš | Derrick Zimmerman | Willie Green | Zaza Pachulia | Keith Bogans | Malick Badiane | Matt Bonner | Sani Bečirovič | Maurice Williams | James Lang | James Jones | Paccelis Morlende | Kyle Korver | Remon Van de Hare | Tommy Smith | Nedžad Sinanović | Rick Rickert | Brandon Hunter | Xue Yuyang | Andreas Glyniadakis |
||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Walton, Luke Theodore |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Professional basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 28, 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Diego, California |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
