After getting beat down by the Portland Trailblazers and Los Angeles Clippers in back-to-back games recently, Byron Scott said the following after practice:
"“I got a sense of a whole lot of them I wouldn’t want to be in a foxhole with; I think they’d end up shooting me in the back. So I’ve got a pretty good sense of the guys that I think are going to be around, that we will build around, build together in this process and go through it.”"
Since then he back-peddled a bit saying it was out of frustration, yet explaining that he’s communicating the same message to the players individually before he goes public with his quotes. So who is in the foxhole with Coach Scott?
Inside the foxhole: Kobe Bryant, Tarik Black, Jordan Clarkson, Ed Davis, Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price, Julius Randle
Outside, shooting Scott in the back: Carlos Boozer, Jordan Hill, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, Jeremy Lin, Robert Sacre, Nick Young
N/A: Jabari Brown, Dwight Buycks
This isn’t a preview of next season’s roster, instead an indication of who is a hard worker and has a tough mentality. Scott mentioned that when he was a player in the 80’s, he didn’t have to worry about teammates playing hard or not. That’s not the case these days where branding, resting and life outside of basketball is taken into consideration daily. The NBA has shifted from a team sport to personal branding. As an old school guy, Scott reverts back to his playing days and expects the Lakers’ players to play with pride, heart and discipline.
There’s a bit of generational divide with Byron Scott’s style and the Lakers players, but the winning culture that he is trying to instill despite their losing record is commendable. Only time will tell what the Lakers will do in the draft and free agency, but with at least a few years left on his contract Scott will have input into what types of players the Lakers will acquire. This season the battle was lost, but as fans, we just want to know who will go into war for the Lakers next year.