Luke Walton’s Lakers future isn’t a subject Jeanie Buss wants to discuss

While recording a podcast Tuesday at Loyola Marymount, Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss was asked by the moderator about coach Luke Walton that began “if he were to be the coach going forward . . . ”

Buss jumped in without waiting for him to finish, laughing uncomfortably as she answered.

“I’m not gonna answer that question,” she said.

So the interviewer tried again, offering that Walton is someone Buss has faith in.

“Of course, of course,” Buss said on the podcast called the Sports Business Radio Road Show. “I think he’s a hard worker and somebody that players gravitate towards. He’s done an incredible job under a lot of challenging circumstances.”

As the Lakers season nears its close, Walton’s fate is the most talked about topic. LeBron James, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart are finished playing for the season, maybe Kyle Kuzma too, and president of basketball operations Magic Johnson has said Walton is safe through the season.

What happens after the season? Walton has two years left on his contract and has enjoyed Buss’ confidence throughout his tenure. Two years ago, Buss said she imagined Walton as the coach of the Lakers for more than a decade. During Tuesday’s taping, she also spoke highly of Walton.

“Luke has always been somebody that — he came to the Lakers as a rookie,” Buss said of a team that featured Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. “The last year of Shaq and Kobe. He kind of bridged two Lakers teams in the Shaq-Kobe era and what you would call the Kobe-Pau [Gasol] era. He is somebody I think who doesn’t even realize what a natural he is and that leadership that he has in terms of getting people connecting with people in all ages. I think he’s done a terrific job.”

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While Buss declined to discuss Walton’s job security head on, she did offer some hints about how a decision-making process might go in talking about her relationship with Johnson.

“We’re as tight as any two people, any two executives,” Buss said. “We’ve got a mission and a purpose of what we’re trying to do and we’re not done yet but I think we’re going in the right direction. In terms of basketball decisions, I will always defer to Magic.”

A familiar accomplishment

On March 4, 2012, Rajon Rondo, then the Boston Celtics point guard, finished with 18 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds. The Celtics needed every bit of that effort to beat the New York Knicks that day 115-111.

No player in NBA history had come so close to matching Wilt Chamberlain’s triple-double of at least 20 in each category. Chamberlain had 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists on Feb. 2, 1968, in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 131-121 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Rondo was on the court Tuesday when Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook actually did it. Westbrook scored 20 points to go with 21 assists and 20 rebounds.

“You have to have great teammates,” Rondo said. “Pretty good teammates help a lot as far as being able to make those many passes and getting assists. As far as rebounding the ball, you’ve got to have a lot of bigs that don’t rebound, but like I said things went his way tonight. We missed a lot of shots. I think he had … near 10 rebounds in the first quarter. So it was one of those nights for him.”

Westbrook seemed to be hunting assists right from the start of the game, aggressively finding his teammates. Although he made only two of 12 shots in the first half, he had 10 assists in the first quarter.

As the game progressed, most of the Lakers said they weren’t aware of Westbrook’s statistical accomplishment.

“When they called time out I didn’t really know why they were celebrating,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso said. “I figured it out after the game obviously. People talk about stat padding and stuff like that but I mean he has to go out and get 20-20-20. He’s a really good player. We didn’t do a good enough job limiting him. Make a couple more shots, box out a little better, don’t get back cut a number of times and he might not get it.”

UP NEXT

VS. GOLDEN STATE

When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

On Air: TV: TNT; Radio: 710, 1330

Update: The Warriors and Nuggets are tussling for the top seed in the Western Conference. Golden State has won two games in a row while Denver has won two games in a row, and the Warriors entered Wednesday evening with a two-game lead over the Nuggets.

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli