Lakers' Scott out after franchise-worst season
LOS ANGELES — Byron Scott will not return to coach the Los Angeles Lakers next season, the team announced late Sunday.
Scott coached the Lakers for the two worst seasons in the 16-time NBA champion franchise’s history. The Lakers are making another break from the Kobe Bryant era by firing the coach who shepherded the superstar guard’s farewell season but couldn’t coax many wins out of an otherwise dismal roster.
Los Angeles finished with the NBA’s second-worst record at 17-65 this season. The team lost four more games than it did in its previous franchise-worst season in 2014-15.
Sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that Scott was informed by the Lakers of the decision Sunday night during their second meeting of the past week.
Sources said there was a recognition that it was “impossible” to evaluate Scott based on the talent level on the team the past two years, but the Lakers felt they needed a new vision that embraced the current style of wide-open play and outside shooting.
The team wanted to make a move quickly because of how important free agency will be this summer and because president of basketball operations Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak are working under Buss’ self-imposed one-year deadline for turning the franchise around, sources said.
Scott’s contract included a team option for next season — the third year of the deal — that was tied to performance incentives that he did not meet, sources said. A team option was also included for the fourth year.
“We would like to thank Byron for his hard work, dedication and loyalty over the last two years but have decided it is in the best interest of the organization to make a change at this time,” Kupchak said in a statement.
Scott understood that his job was in jeopardy last week. He won three NBA titles as the shooting guard for the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, playing alongside Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy on some of the greatest teams in league history.
“This is my dream job, and obviously, you want the opportunity to turn it all around,” Scott said. “But I understand the business of basketball, and it’s all about wins and losses.”
The Lakers are compiling a long of coaching candidates they’d like to consider in their search. Among the candidates the Lakers will look at are Luke Walton, Kevin Ollie, Jay Wright, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, John Calipari, Ettore Messina, Jeff Van Gundy and David Blatt, sources told Shelburne. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Jeff Hornacek is also expected to be on the Lakers’ list.
Ollie told ESPN’s Andy Katz on Monday that he has had no contact with the Lakers. He said he will always listen if called but it would take “something very special” to pull him away from UConn.
Los Angeles was interested in new Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau a few years ago, sources told Shelburne, but the Lakers were not willing to make him an executive with control over player personnel.
The Lakers are expected to begin contacting candidates in the next day or two, sources said.
Scott, at 38-126 (.232), had the worst record of the 16 Lakers coaches who spent at least two seasons at the helm of the team. Scott, whose 454-647 career record stands more games under .500 than that of any other veteran coach in NBA history, finished last in his division in each of his past five seasons as an NBA head coach. He has also coached the Nets, the New Orleans Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He led the Nets to two NBA Finals in his first head-coaching job, and he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award with the Hornets in 2008.
Scott received praise from Kupchak last week for his handling of the final months of Byrant’s career. Scott was Bryant’s teammate during Byrant’s rookie season with the Lakers 20 years ago. Bryant scored 60 points in his final game April 13, a win over Utah.
The Lakers struggled to play competent defense or put together coherent game plans the past two seasons, with a roster of youngsters and unimpressive veterans. Scott also didn’t seem to connect with the Lakers’ young players. His old-school mentality generated little positive effect in Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson or D’Angelo Russell, the second overall pick whose playing time Scott curiously limited early in the season.
Although the Lakers acknowledged that Bryant’s season-long showcase took precedence over winning this season, Kupchak and Buss still apparently expected more than Scott provided.
“Guys that know me know I’m not happy with the way we played as a basketball team,” Scott said last week. “I think we could have been a lot better if we had really honed in on some of the things we needed to hone in on early. But that’s kind of the price you’ve got to pay with young guys too. It takes some young guys a bit longer to develop, but the bottom line is the record, and that’s what you judge guys by.”
Scott had two seasons with team options left on his contract.
The Lakers are looking for their fifth head coach since Phil Jackson left in 2011. Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni were fired before Scott, and interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff also had a short run. The Lakers waited to fire Scott while two top candidates for head-coaching positions took other jobs: Tom Thibodeau landed in Minnesota, and Scott Brooks was hired by Washington.
Lakers fans have been intrigued for months by the prospect of hiring Luke Walton, the championship-winning Lakers forward who is an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s staff at Golden State. The 36-year-old Walton, who played nine seasons in Los Angeles, coached Golden State to a 39-4 start to the season while Kerr was sidelined by a back injury.
The Lakers’ new coach will inherit a young, patchwork roster with a core of intriguing talent. Russell, Randle and Clarkson are all solid players, and the Lakers will keep their high draft pick if they finish in the top three of the NBA draft lottery next month. The Lakers also have more than $40 million in salary-cap room to offer free agents, and Scott’s absence could help there as well.
The once-glamorous franchise has been incredibly unsuccessful in attracting or keeping marquee free agents over the past four seasons. The team even lost Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol to other teams for relatively modest contracts. But the departures of Bryant and Scott combined with the installation of a credible head coach could prove more enticing to stars interested in the benefits of playing in the Hollywood spotlight.
Information from The Associated Press, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Ramona Shelburne and Baxter Holmes, and ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.
