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Subscribe to the Mercury News and East Bay Times for $40 a year and receive a free Warriors championship coffee table book LOS ANGELES – The text messages often pop into each other’s inbox on a weekly basis. Even though Luke Walton is nearly 2 1/2 years removed from working as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors, the pair still talk to each other frequently about their personal lives, basketball and anything else. Those conversations give Kerr an extra window on how Walton has navigated his third season as the Lakers’ head coach, which has entailed managing LeBron James, a handful of other veterans on one-year deals, a young core and a demanding front office and fanbase that expect a postseason appearance and beyond.
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