Luke Walton: 'Not Concerned' With LaVar Ball's Criticism

Luke Walton said he's not concerned with what his players' parents think of how the team is being coached.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but LaVar Ball overstepped his boundaries recently by pinning his son's early-season struggles on the Lakers' coaching rather than Lonzo himself. 

"They're soft," LaVar said of the Lakers' coaching staff, per Bleacher Report. "They don't know how to coach my son. I know how to coach him," LaVar Ball said. "I tell him to go get the victory. Stop messing around."

Whether LaVar is right about Lonzo responding better to harsher coaching, one thing is for certain: Ball's rookie season hasn't gone as planned so far. While Lonzo had his second triple double in 17 career games during Sunday night's 127-109 over the Nuggets, Ball's play has been up-and-down at best and downright disappointing at worst. He's averaging 8.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists, but he's shooting just 31% from the field and a putrid 23% from three. Ball has been benched multiple times during close games in the fourth quarter. 

Lakers coach Luke Walton has been clear that he's taking a patient approach toward coaching Lonzo, who just turned 20. Walton was asked before the Lakers' game against the Bulls on Tuesday about LaVar's comments,and suggested he essentially tunes out LaVar's basketball thoughts. 

"Absolutely nothing," Walton responded when asked what he makes of the "soft" comment. "I was really proud of our media guys this morning for not asking about that because it's not what we're here to do or talk about.

"I will say this: I think he has done a phenomenal job as a father with Lonzo because Lonzo is a special young man. He's selfless, he's unselfish, his teammates love him, he cares about them, he plays the right way. So he's done a great job with that, but we're not concerned with what parents think of how we're coaching the team." 

It's bizarre to hear the coach of an NBA team say he's tuning out what his players' parents think of his coaching. Usually that stuff is confined to youth basketball, but as with all things LaVar Ball, we're knee-deep in uncharted territory.