Luke Walton Responds to LaVar Ball's Criticism, Says It Doesn't Bother Him

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton responded to LaVar Ball's take that he has lost control of the team amid Los Angeles' nine-game losing streak.

"I'm fine with it," Walton said, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. "It doesn't bother me. My only concern with any of it is for [Lonzo Ball]."

On Saturday, the eldest Ball didn't mince words when discussing Walton.

"You can see they're not playing for Luke no more," he told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. "Luke doesn't have control of the team no more. They don't want to play for him.

"That's a good team. Nobody wants to play for him. I can see it. No high-fives when they come out of the game. People don't know why they're in the game. He's too young. He's too young. ... He ain't connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player; he's not connecting with not one player."

Walton didn't agree with that assessment, per Ganguli, adding he believes the Lakers front office has his back.

As for Lonzo Ball, he said, "I'll play for anybody" when asked if he was OK with Walton as his head coach, according to Ganguli.

And when he was asked whether his father ever said Walton shouldn't be his or the Lakers' head coach, Lonzo Ball said, per Ganguli: "That is just his opinion. He has coached me his whole life. So, he is definitely going to have a strong opinion about it. That is just what it is."

LaVar Ball seems to feel strongly that Walton hasn't handled his son properly.

"Lonzo looked good, but he also looked disgusted," he said after Lonzo played Friday for the first time since Dec. 23 because of a sprained shoulder. "He was ready to play. Four minutes left in the first quarter, he dunked it, getting in a flow, and Coach sits him down. Sat him down. Now game goes from four points to 10 to 15 to 20. I don't know what they're doing. If he's ready to play, let him play. Don't try and monitor no minutes, put on restrictions."

The Lakers' season has been unraveling since late November. Since a 103-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 21, the team is 3-17. There have been a number of factors at play, including injuries—Brook Lopez missed the first seven games of the team's losing streak—the ups and downs that come with having a young core and perhaps some strife behind the scenes.

As Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported Sunday: "According to one league source, one topic discussed is that some Lakers have been frustrated by the play of Julius Randle, who has been the subject of trade reports for nearly a year now. And yet, in the Lakers' very next game following the team meeting, Randle was promoted into the starting lineup."

Why? Isola speculated the Lakers front office might want Randle to play more so he can improve his trade stock as the team prepares to clear cap space for a huge summer. It has long been believed Los Angeles will try to be a major player in free agency with LeBron James, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins, among others, set to hit the market.

Not that LaVar Ball believes Walton could handle any of those superstars.

"Even if you bring in a LeBron or a George, he can't coach them guys," LaVar Ball told Goodman. "What is he gonna tell them? He's too young. He has no control."

The Lakers can't be pleased with LaVar Ball's public critique of Walton, especially after they asked him to put a lid on such talk earlier in the season, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. But at this point, expecting LaVar Ball to play ball is probably a fool's errand for Los Angeles.