Luke Walton sees other side of NBA life, coaching, isn’t easy

These are strange new days for Luke Walton, who lived the charmed life of fan favorite and won two championships with the Lakers.

That was the easy part, to hear him talk, the countless days of scrimmaging, playing game after game and staring past hostile playoff crowds.

This coaching stuff is the hard part.

Walton is in his first season as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors.

“There’s a lot more work than you think as a player,” Walton said. “More hours in the gym and the film room and stuff like that.

“And I’ll tell you what’s hard, a three-hour practice, just standing the whole time. I think that might be harder than actually being out there and doing the drills. My ankles and knees, after a three-hour practice of standing, hurt a lot worse than when I was playing.”

He’s not kidding, more surprised than anything that a man in motion sometimes isn’t as sore as a man at rest.

Not that he’s easing into his new gig.

Walton didn’t choose the basketball afterlife of his father, Bill, who became a successful TV analyst before back problems prevented him from traveling to games.

When Walton was done as a pro, his last season in 2012-13 with Cleveland, he knew he wanted to coach. He did some on-air stuff for the Lakers’ TV affiliate but also became a player-development coach for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ minor league affiliate.

He chose clipboards over tie clips.

“Personally, I love the idea of our group trying to come together and win against the best players in the world. That’s what always drove me as a player,” Walton said. “Now that I can’t do that as a player anymore, coaching is that next natural step.”

Walton has maintained contact with Phil Jackson, for whom he played seven seasons, and had preliminary discussions with Derek Fisher to become an assistant with New York this season.

Then he thought of Steve Kerr, who had recently been selected as the Warriors’ coach. Kerr and Walton have known each other for years, mainly through a strong athletic alumni program at the University of Arizona, where they played about 15 years apart.

“I was using Phil as a mentor and asked if I should reach out to Steve as well and he said, ‘Definitely. He’s in a great situation up there,’” Walton said. “I got Steve’s number, he called me back, we talked several times, and here I am.”

Each Warriors assistant is in charge of monitoring a handful of teams and providing a scouting report when Golden State plays one of them. Kerr assigned the Lakers to Walton, who watched their three season-opening losses before they played Saturday at Golden State.

“I still find myself pulling for them when they’re playing other teams,” said Walton, who was cognizant of their injury woes so far. “It’s tough. It was sad to see the young fella [Julius Randle] go down. He looked promising. Obviously, Steve Nash, just being a fan of basketball, that was heartbreaking seeing him finish with most likely a career-ending injury.”

Walton was not surprised by Kobe Bryant’s apparent resurgence.

“I told people the entire time if anyone can come back at his age from that injury, it’s him,” Walton said. “I was a believer but then watching him play, the way he’s moving around the court, it’s still almost shocking even though I told myself I wouldn’t be shocked if I saw it.”

When Walton instructs Warriors players, he uses “very little” reference to his playing days, Warriors forward David Lee said. No name-dropping Bryant or Jackson.

“There’s no ego to anything he does. He’s very relaxed and has a great way of getting his point across,” Lee said. “He could sit here and talk about his championships rings that none of us have. He doesn’t brag about all his accomplishments. I think you can see a lot of Phil’s attitude and his teachings in the way Luke coaches.”