Luke Walton was introduced as the Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach at a press conference on Tuesday (21 June) in California.

SOUNDBITE (English): Luke Walton, Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach

(On being named Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach)

"And I am absolutely thrilled to be able to come back down here and have my dream job which is to coach the L.A. (Los Angeles) Lakers, a team I played for, a team I won championships with, a team that drafted me. I'm so excited to get after it here. I think we're in an exciting time. We have extremely talented young players. We have a ton of money to spend in free agency. We have draft picks this year and the fact that Mitch (Kupchak), Jimmy (Buss) and the Buss family trusted me with this, in being part of this rebuilding post-Kobe (Bryant) era just era means the world to me. And I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity."

SOUNDBITE (English): Luke Walton, Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach

(On losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA Finals while still with Golden State Warriors)

"I don't think you ever get over that disappointment to be honest. I still haven't got over the disappointment of losing to Detroit (Pistons) my rookie year, to losing to the (Boston) Celtics when they were pouring Gatorade with five minutes left in the game still when they were up 30 in Boston. You don't get over those things but they do motivate you and they do make you appreciate winning championships and what it feels like to be on the other side of that. So I don't think that I'll get over that in this lifetime but I look forward to trying to get back on the other side of that down here."