Luke Walton jokes he subbed out Lonzo Ball because his ‘dad was talking s***’

NBA head coaches are hired, fired, and generally judged based on their ability to win basketball games, but the public facing nature of their job makes it useful to have a sense of humor, too. Some great coaches range from awkward to uninteresting while in front of a camera, but there are notable exceptions everywhere.

And Luke Walton, by my book, is one of the funniest people in the league right now.

You might have heard the Ball drama — LMAO ... what’s new — that happened over the weekend, where LaVar Ball criticized Walton for supposedly losing control of the team. It led to harsh rebukes from Rick Carlisle, Mavericks head coach and president of the NBA’s head coaching association, while Walton and Lonzo Ball both demurred there were any issues.

Then on Sunday, Walton experimented with a rotation that had Lonzo Ball subbing out of the game earlier than usual. When asked about it, Walton cracked off this killer joke.

“His dad was talking shit so I took him out early,” Walton says, before clarifying, “Just kidding.”

Walton’s use of the deadpan is incredible. (I’d love to hear his unadulterated thoughts, but this was obviously meant for humor.) There’s a few coaches who could pull off the execution of this joke, but I’m not sure how many would dare say something like that, just out of concern someone would take it the wrong way.

But we’re glad Walton went for it, because this is a soundbite worth replaying all the time.