Photo : Thearon W. Henderson ( Getty )

Magic Johnson didn’t want to be the one to do it, so he quit, but it was going to get done anyway, and now it’s official: The Lakers have canned head coach Luke Walton.


Walton’s 37-45 Lakers missed the playoffs, of course, and ended the season as the 24th-ranked offense and 13th-ranked defense. But he seemed to be making decent headway with the young Lakers core in the ‘17-18 season, and it’s unclear whether this season’s struggles should be ascribed to Walton’s schematic failures or to widespread injury, a mercenary band of non-shooting bozos, and LeBron generally overriding any directive.


Whatever the case, the King might not have to waste much more of his time pretending not to be in charge:

It’s always nice to be reunited with an old friend; now, does LeBron still remember how to talk without moving his mouth?