Lakers: Three Reasons Why LA Should Keep Byron Scott

Far from a popular sentiment these days, but there are at least three good reasons why the Lakers should keep Byron Scott as head coach for the time being.

Even Laker great Magic Johnson has asked fans to be patient, acknowledging that he too is impatient. Thursday night on the CBS News in Los Angeles, Magic expressed the belief that Byron Scott is coaching a young team and it will take time for them to learn his system.

Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak also gave his reasons why he hired Scott in his official head coach decision announcement, “Byron has proven himself at the highest levels of the game as both a player and a coach in his almost 30 years of NBA experience. His leadership skills and track record for success make him the ideal person to lead this franchise forward.”

Scott has taken his teams to the postseason four times and earned back-to-back NBA Finals appearances with New Jersey in 2002 and 2003. He was also elected to coach two NBA All-Star teams in 2002 (Eastern Conference) and 2008 (Western Conference).

Reason No. 1: Head coach Byron Scott has one of the hardest jobs in the NBA

This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year, that means fans should set their expectations in reality, but they don’t, they always expect perfection.

How could any coach, other than maybe Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich, take a brand new team with only four returning players who actually played last season, two of whom barely play right now — Nick Young, Tarik Black, Jordan Clarkson, Robert Sacre, Ryan Kelly — and make them successful. (Kobe Bryant is not included since he got hurt early in the season and wasn’t playing with the rest of the team at the end of last season)

These days, Kobe Bryant is consistently on the day-to-day injury status. How can anyone get a team to jell when the makeup of the team changes on a game-to-game basis? The strategy is hugely different with Kobe than without him; he plays for at least 30 minutes in a game.

Scott can’t even count on Kobe to be ‘on’, as he has struggled to start the season. Kobe has been said to be exhausted after games and he even told Coach K on his radio show today he will retire if something doesn’t change.

Kobe told Coach K on SiriusXM that "if something changes 'll come back and play next season. If something doesn't change this is it for me."
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) November 19, 2015

What does he mean by that? Does he mean that if the team doesn’t perform he’s gone? Does it mean that if they don’t get big talent in the off-season he’ll retire? Sounds like he is already gone in his mind. How can you coach a team when the star is consumed with questions about his pending retirement 11 games into the season?

We keep hearing how the team is young and they need to be developed. That includes benching them when they aren’t making a difference, not listening to instructions, not carrying out the plan when it’s called.

How the heck can any fan know what Bryon is asking of his players? He and his staff are developing this team, that means it takes time, period.

Dec 3, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) watches while standing on the sidelines with Lakers head coach Byron Scott (left) against the Washington Wizards in the third quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 111-95. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers fans are hard to please, with any setback reason enough to start firing folks. This is the year that Jim Buss will supposedly sink or swim based on how the team performs, so for him a lot is riding on this season. Maybe that’s why the organization decided to hype the team to fans instead of tempering their expectation.

With that in mind, Scott has been listening to the fans, which is why he’s been using Metta World Peace and Larry Nance Jr. for a spark off the bench.

Magic says they are missing communication on both defense and offense, they need to talk more. He gave this advice to Roy Hibbert at an event honoring another Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He has a point!

Coaches cannot force their players to do anything, but this effort is something they are missing, and without it, they will not be winning games.

Reason No. 2: He Prioritizes Winning

Byron Scott is a winner. Byron, Kobe, Magic and Peace all share that drive for excellence. It must be extremely frustrating for him when his team doesn’t win. Granted there has been some coaching decisions which dumbfounded many fans, but we don’t know the story behind why certain decisions are being made. There are a lot of decisions that are based on teaching lessons to the young-ins on the team.

Don’t be fooled, he is not happy the Lakers are losing and last season was excruciating because he needed to tank to get a high draft pick.

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His fourth quarter coaching philosophy has been torn apart by Lakers fans. They call for Scott to develop and play D’Angelo Russell, but then they aren’t thinking like a coach. More so, they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Maybe reports of Russell’s poor work ethic are true, who knows?

Further, when you need points, you play the player with the hot hand, and despite his recent struggles, Lou Williams is a proven scorer. Scott was asked after one of his practices about his method in this situation, “If Lou wasn’t playing well, I would have brought [Russell] back in. So, it’s more of, with me, who is playing well at that particular time.”

Reason No. 3: He’s Been In The Players’ Position Before

Scott was traded to the Lakers early in his first season after being drafted No. 4 overall in the 1983 NBA Draft by the San Diego Clippers. He played for a total of 14 seasons in the NBA including 11 seasons with the Los Angles Lakers (first 10 and last season of his career). Scott scored a total of 15,097 points, made 2,729 assists, 2,987 rebounds, 1,224 steals, 276 blocks and 775 3-pointers. He has a ton of experience as a player which assists him in his coaching.

The newest generation of Lakers fans may only remember back to the days of Kobe and Shaq. But the Lakers history is rich and goes much farther back to the days of Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Jerry West and the Showtime Era with Scott, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, and A.C. Green.

Most importantly, he’s helped the Lakers win three NBA Championships in 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Scott has proven that he knows how to mold young talent before, specifically gifted point guards, but he must do so again, and quickly, or risk losing his position for good.

Next: Lou Williams on Nance Jr. 'Better Dunker Than Blake Griffin'

What do you think about coach Byron Scott? Let us know in the comments below.

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