Lakers: Byron Scott Questions D’Angelo Russell’s Leadership Abilities

Lakers’ head coach, Byron Scott, has been tough on rookie, D’Angelo Russell and it doesn’t look like his criticism is going to stop anytime soon

Since the beginning of the season, Byron Scott has taken the “tough love” approach with young players, Julius Randle, and especially rookie, D’Angelo Russell and with around 20 games remaining in the season, this mindset is still solidly intact.

While you can laud Scott for his misplaced consistency, the Lakers current eight game losing streak paired with the young player’s inconsistent minutes and play, suggest that this might not be the best style of coaching for this group of kids.

Regardless, considering the fact that Scott hasn’t changed his mind 62 games into the season, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be changing any time soon.

Scott’s comments in a recent interview with LA Daily News’, Eric Pincus, seem to attest to this assumption.

When discussing D’Angelo Russell’s recent improvement since being inserted into the starting lineup,

"… Russell averaging 17 points on 50 percent shooting and 5.25 assists in 31.5 minutes since becoming a starter. That marks a sharp contrast from his season averages of 12.3 points on 41.8 percent shooting and 3.5 assists in 27.3 minutes per contest."

instead of admitting that, perhaps D’Angelo Russell was better suited in the starting lineup all along, he seemed to ignore the most obvious correlation all together: increased minutes and improvement.

"Yet, Lakers coach Byron Scott downplayed whether Russell’s improved numbers stemmed from increased playing time.“I don’t think I loosened it up. He’s just getting more comfortable in his role,” Scott said. “I don’t feel it was that tight in the first place.”"

Although he cited the fact that Russell is getting more comfortable, confident and that his “practice habits have gotten so much better,” Scott showed where the foundation of his delusions surrounding Russell stem from.

When discussing Russell’s leadership ability, Scott openly doubted it:

"Yet, Scott sounded unsure on if Russell could become the Lakers’ leader. . . “He’s being a little reluctant,” Scott said of Russell. “I think that the guys respect him. But they’re still sitting there and saying you have to show me this is something you want to do.”But Scott reported that Chris Paul earned immediate respect as rookie when he coached him in New Orleans (2005-06) by showing something Scott believes Russell has not fully mastered.“His work ethic has to be that guys are seeing he’s willing to bust his butt every single day to get better,” Scott said. “Is he a Kobe Bryant type worker? I don’t think we have that kind of worker. But he is a guy that works.”"

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The irony lies in the fact that despite continuing to compare Russell to the likes of Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, he refuses to treat him as such.

For example, when he was coaching Paul, or even Kyrie Irving for that matter, neither of them were on the short leash that Russell is currently on.

While Scott has cited Russell’s immaturity on many occasions, if he truly has Russell’s best interest at heart, he’d sit down with the youngster and lay out where he needs to improve and how to do so. But old school coaches don’t do that!

Whatever the case, unless Byron Scott changes his ways in the next 20 games or so, it’s likely that the Lakers will be on their 26th coach next season.

Next: Lakers Laying the Foundation: Xavier Henry

What do you think of Scott’s recent comments about D’Angelo? Warranted? Unwarranted? Let us know in the comments below.