Lakers: Will Byron Scott Still Be Coaching LA Next Week?

Lakers coach Byron Scott has made a series of questionable decisions to begin the season

The Lakers are in the midst of an eight game road trip with remaining contests against the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, and Houston Rockets. Given the level of this competition, the final record for this trip could very well end up with one win and seven losses – and they were very fortunate to get the one win. If that happens, their overall record for the season would be 3-21.

It is not a surprise that the Lakers have a losing record this season, but no one could have predicted it would be this much of a debacle. In truth, their personnel, while flawed, is better than this record would suggest. Moreover, it is the way they are losing that is especially troubling. They show no fight, no energy, and no sense of urgency.

Kobe Bryant is having fun, basking in the glow of his farewell tour, smiling and laughing during the games and afterwards with opposing players, their fans, and the media. Meanwhile, the collective mood of the rest of the team resembles that of doomed passengers on a plane that is about to crash.

When the Lakers started this road trip, some observers wondered aloud if Byron Scott could survive much longer. Then the team was beaten by the pathetic Philadelphia 76ers, and the whispers grew louder.

He was redeemed a bit when the Lakers unexpectedly defeated the Washington Wizards, and when Bryant’s retirement announcement temporarily diverted attention from the team’s woes, but several awful losses later, it is indeed fair to ask the question again: Will Scott still be coaching the team when it returns from the road next week?

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The last thing the Lakers’ front office wants to do is fire Scott. He is a member of their family, a link to the glamorous Showtime era.

When he was hired, his old buddies Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Jamal Wilkes and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar proclaimed this was the beginning of a return to playing the “Lakers brand” of basketball. It was a feel-good story, but it was an illusion.

Further, firing Scott would be an admission that the front office made a mistake in hiring him. They were forced to fire Mike Brown a few games into the 2012-13 season, then they made the colossal mistake of passing on Phil Jackson to hire Mike D’Antoni.

Two seasons later he was gone, and after a long search, instead of hiring a young, energetic coach with creative ideas whose career was on the upswing, they opted to give the job to Scott. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse.

While Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak do not want to fire Scott, there are signs that something has to give. The situation with Bryant is out of control, and Scott is unwilling to do anything about it.

This season has evolved into the worst case scenario, where it is all about honoring Bryant for the past instead of developing talent for the future. Bryant, who has been a fierce, win-at-all-costs kind of competitor all his life, is on cruise control. He is happy just to be playing and taking his final bow.

After the recent loss to the Raptors, Bryant didn’t care that the team lost or that Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell were demoted, he was just happy he finally shot 50 percent from the field.

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After playing fairly well this season, and showing a much improved attitude, Nick Young was inexplicably benched immediately after inferring in an interview that the circus surrounding Bryant was hurting the team. Scott then proclaimed that we would not be seeing Young for a while.

Russell has struggled all year, but his recent improvement was noticeable. It is understandable that Scott would want to make changes in light of how poorly the team was playing, but instead of benching Bryant or reducing his minutes, he benched Russell, the projected point guard of the future. Russell responded by expressing his disappointment, since he “was just starting to figure it out.”

Even more shocking was Scott’s election to bench Randle. He is the team’s leading rebounder – by a wide margin. He has been playing better defense, and on offense he has the potential to take over games. He needs to be more consistent, and he has a lot of room for improvement, but it makes no sense on any level to slow his development by diminishing his role.

Dec 6, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott talks to referee Kevin Cutler (34) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons win 111-91. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Whether Russell and Randle start or come off the bench is less important than the number of minutes they play. Recently, their minutes had increased to 30 or more per night. When they were demoted, Scott stated that from now on they would play around 20 minutes a night.

Brandon Bass has also been benched after he was prominently featured most of the season, though he was playing out of position. Instead of the logical decision to give Tarik Black a chance at back-up center, Scott went instead with Robert Sacre, who didn’t even dress for most games and had seen no action at all since the very first game of the season.

As for Anthony Brown, he is still dressed in his civilian clothes watching the games from behind the bench. The Lakers are in desperate need of outside shooting, which Brown can provide. With Young out of the picture, that leaves only 37 year old Bryant and 36 year old Metta World Peace at small forward. Yet Scott won’t give Brown a chance.

In a nutshell, the situation is spiraling out of control. Scott is not the man to get this done. Whatever he is trying to sell the players, they are not buying into it. It is not what they want, but if the team loses three more games on the current road trip, the front office may decide it has no choice but to make a change.

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Will Scott still be head coach when the Lakers return to Los Angeles to play the Milwaukee Bucks next Tuesday? The answer is, maybe, but hopefully not.