Luke Walton’s Playing Time to Be Cut with Addition of Ron Artest

Newly acquired Laker Ron Artest is known for liking to play heavy minutes, which means Luke Walton may see less playing time this season. After practice on Saturday (Oct. 3) Walton, who will play backup small forward behind Artest this season, said, “I want to play. There’s no way to tell right now until the season gets going. But I’m going to work my tail off to try and earn as many minutes as I can get.” Last season, Walton averaged 17.9 minutes in 65 games, 34 of which he was a starter. As for Artest, he avereaged 35.2 minutes a game last season while playing for the Houston Rockets.

Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson weighed in on the situation saying, “That affects Luke’s role. I talked to him a little bit about it before the season in recognition that some things have changed. But he still can play a number of positions for us. We know that Ron likes to play in the 30s [minutes]. We’ll see how it plays out, but Ron’s going to have big-minute nights.” Walton said as long as he can get on the court he’ll play anywhere, half joking, “Hey, I’ll play some one [point guard], Magic Johnson style. I’ll just back people all the way down the court.”

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Posted in General on October 5, 2009

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