Lance Stephenson Says Lakers 'Could Feel' Luke Walton's Anger in Team Meeting
Los Angeles Lakers guard Lance Stephenson suggested Wednesday that head coach Luke Walton motivated the team to pick up its first win of the season.
In an interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Stephenson discussed Walton's demeanor during a meeting at the team hotel Wednesday morning: "We could feel his anger. We had to get that W."
The Lakers delivered by beating the Phoenix Suns 131-113 to improve to 1-3 on the season.
L.A. suffered losses to the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs in its first three games and surrendered an average of 131.7 points per game in those contests.
Stephenson noted that Walton placed emphasis on playing better defense during the meeting: "We talked a lot on defense. We watched a lot of film yesterday and today, and Coach was very mad at us and he got on us about our defense and talking on D on the defensive end and being very unselfish. So, I mean we took care of business tonight."
The 28-year-old Stephenson provided a major spark off the bench against Phoenix, scoring a team-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
Meanwhile, LeBron James contributed 19 points, 10 assists and seven boards in his first win as a member of the Lakers.
Los Angeles will look to keep its newfound momentum going when it hosts the 4-0 Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.
