Byron Scott to add Jim Eyen as Assistant Coach

Jim Eyen may not be a familiar name, but it should be.  He was an assistant coach for the Lakers before.  He spent three seasons as an assistant coach to Pat Riley, and was kept when Mike Dunleavy was hired.  His stint as a Laker assistant lasted from 1990-1993.

Since then, he’s been a well-traveled assistant coach. He has spent time as an assistant coach in Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Clippers in the mid-2000’s, and most recently with the Sacramento Kings.  He seems to be most interested with player scouting.  The following is a sample of his work from last year with the Sacramento Kings.

"DeMarcus Cousins“In his third season, DeMarcus showed an overall increase in confidence on the floor, which translated into improvement in two important areas – field-goal and free-throw percentage. As the team continues to count on him, particularly for inside presence, we’ll rely heavily on those categories. With his adept passing ability and improved consistency with his outside shot, at times we ran the offense through him at the high post. This adjustment improved our spacing and allowed more activity off the ball….”Isaiah Thomas“Early in Isaiah’s rookie season, it became obvious he possessed innate leadership qualities, which he’s built on and demonstrated even more this season. His work ethic and competitiveness earn him respect among his teammates. His challenge is to combine the instinct to attack and score with the ability to ‘quarterback’ the team. This season, he made great strides toward achieving that balance.”"

The link for the Kings roster can be found here.

His veteran leadership and role within the coaching staff will be valuable for the Laker team.  This Laker team has a few veterans, but lots of young players in their early-to-mid 20’s.  His evaluations of who they are as players now and where they can be led to better player development down the line.