Byron Scott Discusses Coaching

In an interview with Time Warner Cable SportsNet, current Laker coach Byron Scott talks about his journey to becoming a head coach in the NBA. In the short but insightful video, Scott gives a candid discussion on how the likes of Pat Riley, Larry Brown, and Rick Adelman have had a prominent influence on him as a player and as a coach.

Scott credits Riley and Brown as essentially sparking his interest in becoming a coach when his playing career ended. After mentioning a conversation with the two prolific coaches when he was still a player, Scott says, “I’ve got two of the best coaches ever to coach this game, so obviously they see something in me that I don’t see in myself, as far as coaching, so at that particular point I started really keeping a journal of everything that I like to do and things that I had learned from those two guys and it just kind of blossomed from there.”

When asked about one of the more important lessons he learned from playing under Riley, Scott points out his admiration of how he was able to push and drive the team to playing their absolute best. Scott expects this current Lakers squad to show the same tenacity his former Laker team had playing under Riley, and believes passion and drive will get the absolute best out of his players.

Furthermore, Scott shows high praise for Adelman and expresses why he believes the former Minnesota Timberwolves coach was one of the most underrated coaches in the NBA: “I learned so much about patience…learned so much about the communication with the players that he had, and they just loved playing for him.”

Finally, Scott conveys how being a “great communicator” and a “great motivator” are two essential facets that make a great coach, and even though he has had some adversity throughout his coaching career, Scott believes those tribulations have made him better, and welcomes the challenges ahead.

Click here if you are interested in watching more from the interview.