Years before instant success and ready-made acumen won him his dream job with the Lakers, Luke Walton had a long flight over the Pacific Ocean and much of the mainland to agonize over a loss in the fifth-place game of the 2011 Maui Invitational.
“Luke took it hard after we lost in Maui,” former University of Memphis coach Josh Pastner said.
Jack Murphy, then a Memphis assistant, said Walton was “so upset you would have thought it was Game 7 of a playoff series.”
The No. 8-ranked Tigers had blown a lead in the final minute against Georgetown and lost in overtime.