Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe may feel Luke Walton is next Phil, but for now he's youngest coach with hard job

Published Apr. 30, 2016 12:23 a.m. ET

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Andre Vergara

Luke Walton will be the next coach of the LA Lakers, and while he becomes the youngest head coach in the NBA, he's an old 36. At least Kobe Bryant thinks so.

Apparently, Kobe has seen Walton as the next Phil Jackson for some time — "a really brilliant mind" when it comes to basketball.

Conversely, the young Lakers players see Walton as young enough for them to relate to, and young enough to understand the evolutions in the game.

(Guessing they didn't feel that way about Byron Scott.)

But one thing Walton does have in common with Scott: He has a tough job ahead of him.

Walton becomes the eighth former Laker to coach the team, and that history has produced some very mixed results:

Byron Scott: 38-126

Kurt Rambis: 24-13

Magic Johnson: 5-11

Pat Riley: 533-194

Jerry West: 145-101

Jim Pollard: 14-25

George Mikan: 9-30

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