With the news of Melo announcing his return to the Knicks, the Lakers move on. Kobe Bryant endorsed Byron Scott as a head coach.
Kobe on Byron Scott: "He was my rookie mentor ... We've had a tremendously close relationship throughout the years"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 9, 2014
A head coach in place gives the Lakers a chance to set a culture that was the standard in the 1980’s. That team was prided on hard work, defense, energy, and up-tempo play. Byron Scott has had most of his success when he had a great point guard on his roster. When he worked with Jason Kidd on the New Jersey Nets, the team made the Finals. When he worked with Chris Paul, the Hornets made it to the second round of the playoffs.
Byron Scott needs a leader on his team and it looks like Kobe Bryant will be his next great point guard. While he may not play that position naturally on the floor, he will need to be a facilitator on the floor in order for the offensive system to work.
With Melo headed out, there’s a chance that Pau Gasol may be out as well. He is being looked at by multiple teams, including the Spurs and the Bulls. Ideally, the Lakers system would have worked best with Pau Gasol as a half-court facilitator with two finishers in Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant, but that wasn’t meant to be.
Sadly, Kurt Rambis is an associate head coach next to Derek Fisher for the New York Knicks. It looks like Carmelo Anthony wanted to be a Laker after all. It’s just unfortunate that the Laker braintrust is in New York with Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher, and Kurt Rambis.
The Lakers lost out on Phil Jackson. The Lakers lost out on Kurt Rambis. The Lakers lost out on Carmelo Anthony. While bringing Byron Scott back as a Laker head coach is a great move for the franchise, the team has to move on and work on something new. That something new, is in New York now.