Earlier in the month, LeBron James agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers—a team coached by former Laker Luke Walton, son of NBA Hall of Famer and noted Deadhead, Bill Walton. Per a report on ESPN, after the news of LeBron James’ signing, Bill Walton reached out to his son to congratulate him on the Lakers’ high-profile pickup and offer him encouragement regarding fans’ sky-high expectations for the upcoming season.
However, given that Bill Walton has been a regular on tour with Dead & Company—the Grateful Dead spin-off that wrapped up their summer tour this weekend with a two-night stand at Boulder, Colorado’s Folsom Field—it’s no surprise that Bill Walton’s encouraging call about the LeBron signing came from a Dead & Company concert, and even featured some cryptic advice from drummer Mickey Hart, who chimed in from the background of the conversation.
According to the interview conducted by ESPN‘s Ramona Shelburne,
Luke’s father, Bill Walton, would call him from a Grateful Dead concert to help celebrate.
“Yeah, and he had [drummer] Mickey Hart in the background yelling at me that, ‘The rhythm is the answer to everything in life,’” Luke Walton said with a laugh. “So once I figure out what that means, we’ll be good.”
However, while a truly cute father-son moment, whether Luke Walton will figure out how to apply Mickey Hart’s wisdom, “The rhythm is the answer to everything in life,” during the Los Angeles’ Lakers upcoming season with LeBron James on the roster is still anyone’s guess.
[H/T Uproxx]