National Basketball Association

Here's why Lakers fans should be excited about the post-Kobe Bryant era

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:04 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lynch

It's no secret that Lakers coach Byron Scott had his differences with the team's young players last season, particularly rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell. Combined with Kobe Bryant's going-away party, the tension helped torpedo any chance of L.A.'s stars of the future developing a rhythm on the court in 2015-16.

With Luke Walton in town, however, things should be much different. The Lakers have a coach who will relate to his players while still bringing the kind of gravitas to the job that comes with winning multiple rings as a player and assistant -- not to mention helping lead the Warriors to a record 73 wins. There's a distinct sense of excitement surrounding the Lakers. No one's expecting this team to win a championship or even make the playoffs, but the future is undoubtedly bright.

That optimism is most evident in the way the Lakers' young core is coming together during the offseason.

Via Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report:

That's every important player under the age of 25 in Los Angeles. They're all hanging out, but more importantly, they're working out together and practicing on the court. Basketball is a game of chemistry; if you don't trust your teammates, all the skill in the world is meaningless.

And just for good measure, Walton is taking part in these informal workouts whenever he can:

We don't know if any of this will work, of course. Perhaps Walton will go down in the annals of basketball history as a "player's coach" who couldn't translate his compassion to wins. It's unlikely, though. We saw Walton succeed last year with a talented group in Golden State, and in that case, he was forced into action by Steve Kerr's health problems. We can question whether Walton has what it takes to rebuild a once proud franchise -- bringing a team back from such harrowing depths is never easy -- but we know that he can coach.

Above all, the Lakers' 20-year-old point guard gives the clearest indication of how Lakers fans should feel about the upcoming season. With the team unveiling the naming rights to its brand new practice facility, Walton was called to the stage. According to Bleacher Report, Russell, who's thrown his fair share of shade at his old coach this summer, rose to his feet and applauded his new coach.

He was the only one standing. That's how excited he is for a clean slate -- and it probably doesn't hurt that Walton has called Russell the leader of the team. Lakers fans should be excited, too. Don't worry about wins this season. Those will come in time. The real focus should be on how these guys develop, how they come together as a team, and whether Timofey Mozgov can live up to his contract.

Spoiler: He won't, but he'll definitely try.

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