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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- From his second-floor office in the Los Angeles Lakers training facility in El Segundo, California, general manager Mitch Kupchak can overlook the practice court to watch players work. Lately, however, Kupchak is hearing much more than the squeak of sneakers or the bounce of the ball. There's music. A lot of it. "Actually, sometimes I'm glad I'm in my office rather than on the court, because it's loud," Kupchak said Tuesday morning before the Lakers opened training camp at UC Santa Barbara. The music is new -- and the change can be traced to the Golden State Warriors. Under Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, players could choose what music to play during practice, and Luke Walton, who spent the past two years as an assistant under Kerr, noticed an impact. "The players, you can see a little bounce in their step when we had music going," Walton said this week. So when Walton was hired to coach the Lakers, he decided to bring that tradition to L.A. In all, it marks one more aspect of the Lakers' culture that is changing under Walton, who hopes to instill a more joy-based environment, much like the one the Warriors have forged under Kerr. So far, Lakers players say they are enjoying the new trend. "I know with a few of my teammates, playing a certain type of music, the vibe is different," said Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell. "Then when you play that type of music, it gets you excited and hype and rowdy, the whole vibe changes." Walton said he leaves the music choices to the players and even staffers, who can rotate different playlists. "We'll do something on player's birthdays," Walton said. "If it's my birthday, maybe I'll put together a playlist, but for the most part, that will be on the players, whoever we decide to make captains or whoever likes music the most." There wasn't too much music playing during the Lakers' first day of practice, however. "We'd like to do more, but there's so much teaching right now," Walton said. "It's counterproductive to have music playing when you're trying to teach, but once we get familiar with the drills, we'll be able to play more of it." From his office, the 62-year-old Kupchak said some of the music "has to be censored, so we have to be careful who else is in the gym. I guess that's just a part of the times. But it's a little racy." Walton laughed when told of Kupchak's comment that some of the music might be "racy." "From his perspective, probably, yes," Walton said. "From mine and the players, I don't think our viewpoint is the same on censuring the music. I think we have a nice mix going. I enjoy pushing Mitch out of his comfort zone. He's been great. A lot of fun to work with. He's got a good sense of humor once you get to know him."
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