Colin Cowherd Hates Luke Walton Hire For Lakers, Doug Gottlieb Vehemently Disagrees

Colin Cowherd got on the air on Monday and ripped the Los Angeles Lakers’ hiring of Luke Walton as their next head coach. Cowherd opined that the Lakers needed an experienced guy to guide their young roster and take the franchise to the next level. CBS’ Doug Gottlieb quickly called in and pushed back, claiming Walton was an outstanding hire.

Here’s Cowherd’s take on Walton:

Gottlieb called in and they went at it over the hire:

While it’s incredibly difficult to admit it, I have to agree with Gottlieb here.  And no, I’m not just saying that because I grew up with Walton. The Lakers absolutely made the right move here, as they brought a young, fresh perspective to the organization. Walton is a former Laker, but that shouldn’t disqualify him from getting a shot.

The Golden State Warriors would have been fine no matter who was on the sidelines during Steve Kerr’s absence, but Walton handled himself so well that every franchise with a vacant head coaching position was interested. He has an incredible basketball mind (and always has), he’s just 36 and will be able to connect to the Lakers young core and he is deeply invested in seeing the franchise succeed because he’s a part of the “family.” In addition to that, Walton knows the ins-and-outs of Golden State’s success over the past two years as Kerr’s top assistant and can attempt to bring that attitude south to Los Angeles.

I’m not going to sit here and say Walton will turn into a Hall of Fame coach. What I will say is that given the available options, he was by far the best one. Anyone who has been around him agrees that he deserves this shot because of what he can offer. And while it pains me to say this, Gottlieb is (…gulp…) 100 percent correct.