Letters: Can Luke Walton make a difference with Lakers?

There are a few similarities between Byron Scott and Luke Walton. Both have won at least two NBA championships while playing for the Lakers, both wearing No. 4. They also both played their college ball in the state of Arizona. Let’s hope Luke doesn’t emulate Byron’s recent failures and instead brings the team back to respectability next season.

Richard Whorton

Studio City

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How could anyone believe that hiring Luke Walton as a head coach would be good for the Lakers? Bill Plaschke is obviously in the same boat as Mitch and Jimmy, paddling up the stream of disillusionment and confusion. How can you hire a less-than-mediocre player who was nothing more than a substitute coach for a team with the league’s best player? How can you possibly call Walton a star?

Oh and by the way: The fans yell “Luuuuukkke” because they wanted to point him in the right direction.

Bernie Donner

Santa Barbara

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The way Bill Plaschke gushes over the hiring of Luke Walton, you’d think the Lakers had just lured Phil Jackson back as head coach. Sorry, Bill but I ain’t drinking the Kool-Aid. True, Walton “coached” Golden State to a 24-0 start and a 39-4 record, but with that NBA championship lineup, my 12-year-old niece could’ve gone 39-4. Really, how many brilliant coaching decisions have to be made when your team is up by 30 in the fourth quarter and all the starters are on the bench? Let’s see how Walton fares when the players are not named Curry, Thompson and Green but Russell, Randle and Clarkson.

Of course, the only bright spot is this time next year, when the Luke Walton Lakers fail to make the playoffs, Plaschke will be writing about the departure of Jim Buss.

Gary H. Miller

Encino

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It’s great that Luke Walton will be in the forefront with the Lakers. Hopefully, Bill Walton will stay in the background.

David Marshall

Santa Monica

Early summer

I’m not much of a Clippers fan, but I found myself cheering for them during their last stand in Game 6 in Portland. They played with some real dignity and courage. Austin Rivers was a warrior in that game, and my respect for him went up a notch.

David Waldowski

Seal Beach

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The high point of L.A. Clippers history was the seven-game series victory against Memphis in 2012. Besides the Big Three, their key players were tough and fearless: Chauncey Billups, Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin. Since Doc Rivers arrived, all they do is whine about calls. The ultimate insult to the sport was hearing Rivers say the Warriors were lucky to win the championship, when the Clippers got out of the first round against the Spurs only because Parker and Ginobili were injured and played poorly. You can keep Austin, but Doc’s gotta go.

Lon Shapiro

Chatsworth

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According to my sources (social media), Los Angeles hates the Clippers. But where does this hate stem from? We could point to the fact that it’s a Lakers town. But why hate the Clippers? Is it because of Donald Sterling? He doesn’t own the team anymore. Is it because of Chuck the Condor? Maybe. Is it because they have a coach that was plucked from the hated Celtics? Yeah, OK.

Would a championship help the Clippers’ cause? Nope. The city would point back to the Lakers’ banners and say, “Good try, son,” So what in the world would solve Los Angeles’ hate for the Clippers? I’ve figured it out. All the Clippers have to do is cure the Zika virus, bring peace to the Middle East, solve traffic on the 405, and then we’ll get a statue of Blake Griffin dunking on Timofey Mozgov in front of Staples Center.

Sam Kimbrell

Glendale

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Don’t worry, Clippers. If Leicester City can buck the odds and win an English Premier League title after a 132-year wait, then there’s ample hope for you all to make it to the third round; maybe even the Finals!

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

A good kid

Kudos to Eric Sondheimer for the great May 2 piece on Sean Harlston, the athletic standout from Compton Dominguez High. As soon as I read Sean had said: “I’m big on loyalty ... the basketball coach was always there for me,” and, “I want to reach greatness in the classroom, in sports and in the community,” it was obvious that Sean is a special kind of young man.

Smart, talented and humble, each taken as a stand-alone quality in a person is a amazing enough. Find a person with all three, and you’ve got the kind of kid every parent hopes for in their own child. I’m hoping Sean may be the future of our student-athletes going forward.

Daniel V. Shannon

Chatsworth

Think about it

I have often wondered to what extent racehorses understand what they are doing [“Thought to Trot, May 3.”] I think the great ones do.

Just like people, some horses are more intelligent than others. Some are more competitive than others. Combine the two and you have a winner.

Crista Worthy

Boise, Ida.

Green for Blue

In the past I have been terribly unfair in my judgment of Dodgers management. I was mistaken in thinking that they were negatively affecting our Dodgers. Couldn’t be further from the truth.

While the Royals and the Giants have wasted their time and won championships, the Dodgers have won huge profits. Isn’t that the measure of success? As long as we continue to fill the stadium like sheep, and buy dogs and beers and souvenirs, who cares if we’re not one of the premier teams? We will still be able to remember Vin from our childhood and catch the occasional game on ESPN Sunday nights. Gross profits to the few. God bless you.

Michael Anderson

Canyon Country

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So Clayton Kershaw pitched a complete game three-hit shutout, and drove in the only run with his bat? Now I’m petrified that Andrew Friedman and company will trade him because of his increased “value” and will get two eight-win pitchers in exchange, all while saving a ton of cash! It could happen, Dodgers fans. I’m frozen with fear.

Rich Rhea

Oceanside

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Since Bugs Bunny is now over 75 years old and can no longer play all nine positions simultaneously, might I humbly suggest the following lineup to Dave Roberts?

2B Clayton Kershaw

RF Clayton Kershaw

CF Clayton Kershaw

1B Clayton Kershaw

LF Clayton Kershaw

SS Clayton Kershaw

C Clayton Kershaw

3B Justin Turner (who doesn’t like Justin Turner?)

P Clayton Kershaw

Axel W. Kyster

Bradbury

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It appears to me that Pedro Baez is to Dave Roberts as Brian Wilson was to Don Mattingly. I hope it doesn’t take Roberts half the season to figure out that Baez is not the go-to guy, unless you are planning on losing.

Russell Morgan

Carson

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So the Dodgers were unhappy about the timing of Dee Gordon’s suspension. He helped beat them in his final game before his suspension started — if a ball had rolled between his legs to aid a Dodgers win, one supposes that would have elicited no gripe from them.

The Dodgers should be ashamed. They misjudged Gordon as a player, traded him away, then they have the chutzpah to cry foul. The Dodgers should have just shut up and not compounded their pettiness over their own front-office gaffes.

Larry Press

Ventura

When the Dodgers traded Dee Gordon after the 2014 season, it represented my biggest disappointment as a Dodgers fan since Ron Cey and Steve Garvey left. Imagine the frustration that I felt when Gordon turned around and won the batting title for Miami in 2015, and also led the league in stolen bases.

In closing, I wish to quote the late great Gilda Radner. “Never mind.”

William Riley

Santa Monica

First city

The Cubs and White Sox in the World Series? Could happen!

A riot in Chicago? Could it happen?

Loren Coleman

West Hollywood

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