Byron Scott: Brute Honesty and the Case for Overachieving
By Scott Asai
The Lakers are currently in the bottom 5 of the NBA standings, but that is expected.
Despite all the criticism hurled his way, Byron Scott is actually overachieving with this team.
Before you roll your eyes or tune this article out, here at the facts:
Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic pitted two similar teams talent-wise. The Magic are overall younger, but both teams suffer from injuries and a lack of talent. The Lakers should have won that game and they did. The Kobe-less Lakers compete on a nightly basis.
Take away Damian Lillard‘s two superb performances in the past week and the Lakers stayed close with the Portland Trailblazers both times for 3 quarters (minus Kobe). The Lakers were missing multiple starters and the Blazers are near the top of Western Conference. Based on records alone, the Lakers should’ve gotten trounced by Portland, but they didn’t.
Whether you’re a fan of his or not, you have to respect Byron Scott’s admittance that he played Kobe Bryant too many minutes at the beginning of the season. How often does someone show more confidence in Bryant than the player himself? Yes, Kobe is breaking down physically, but in today’s age athletes and coaches rarely take responsibility for their mistakes. Scott admitted he messed up and is doing something to fix it. Taking ownership for failure is refreshing and shows leadership.
The Lakers weren’t put together this season to win. Byron knew that when he accepted the job. Scott’s main role is to develop players and ride the ship until next season. Besides playing Kobe Bryant too much and Jordan Clarkson too little, there’s not much else you can fault him for.
Talent makes a coach better and even the best system can’t hide your individual flaws.
For instance, David Blatt (Cavs), Monty Williams (Pelicans), Stan Van Gundy (Pistons) and Eric Spolstra (Heat) have much better rosters (plus higher expectations) than the Lakers, yet they are underachieving.
Lakers fans are idealistic, but Byron Scott is coaching from a realist’s perspective.
His goals are to: keep the team unified, give lesser known players an opportunity to play and set the foundation for winning beyond this season.
Based on those criteria, he’s doing a pretty good job.