Five possible replacements for Byron Scott as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers
If you’re out dancing in the streets right now as a Los Angeles Lakers fan, it’d be hard to blame you; it’s wholly deserved after the organization finally made the decision that they should’ve made a long time ago as they pulled the trigger on firing head coach Byron Scott on Sunday night.
There’s no doubt that countless Lakers fans have been calling for this move to be made for quite some time now and for good reason. Though he may have been a part of the Showtime Lakers and built up some sense of credibility in that regard, the truth of the matter is that Scott was a coach stuck in a different era of the NBA and that was incapable of helping to lead this rebuilding project in Los Angeles. The past two seasons only confirmed this time and again.
But now that reign of terror from Byron has finally subsided and the organization can move on. The question, though, is really what’s next for the Lakers. Obviously they’re going to have to go find a new head coach, but the real conundrum is who that head coach is going to be.
Making things even more interesting is the fact that two of the hottest head coaching candidate on the market this offseason have already been nabbed up by other teams with vacancies in Scott Brooks and Tom Thibodeau. Even with those two coaches who have proven records of success in this league gone, though, there are still several interesting candidates out there to potentially replace Byron Scott.
Though anything can happen when it comes to a coaching search and when it comes to the Lakers front office, we can try our best to look at plausible options to be the new head coach. Here are five possible replacements for Byron Scott in that position for LA.
Next: Luke Walton, Warriors
Luke Walton — Warriors Assistant Coach
As an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, Luke Walton has been getting buzz about potentially coaching Lakers since long before the job ever opened up with the firing of Scott. When Walton started out the season as the interim head coach for the Warriors in the absence of Steve Kerr due to health issues and wound up having an abundance of success, Lakers fans began pining for the former Lakers player to come home and take up the clipboard.
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Though Walton obviously was coaching a highly talented roster that didn’t present the same challenges that the young Lakers roster does, he showed a ton of potential at least in that role as he effortlessly handled the challenges he did have to face in his first run as a head coach. It’d obviously be an interesting transition for the Lakers, but it’d be worth trying considering everything that Walton has learned.
The only monkey wrench in this plan would be the fact that Walton has said publicly that he’s not sure he wants to be a head coach in the NBA as soon as next season. Essentially, the former Lakers forward and current Golden State assistant wants to make sure the situation is right for him. Would the Lakers be that right situation? There’s no way to know, but the Lakers should obviously try and find out in the very near future.
Next: Ettore Messina, Spurs
Ettore Messina — Spurs Assistant Coach
The branches of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree are sprawling and full of success throughout the entire NBA. There have been numerous assistants and personnel that have worked under Pop with the San Antonio Spurs that have gone on to have great careers as head coaches in this league. Given that, it’s looking like current San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina looks like the next candidate to make that move and the Lakers should see if he will make that move to Los Angeles.
Obviously every organization in the NBA wants to be the Spurs. They are the picture of longevity and a dynasty as a franchise. And while that’s not totally replicable for every other franchise in the NBA, it’s the type of blueprint and experience that you want coaches and front office members to have. Moreover, you have contemporary examples like Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks that show what can happen with a team when someone from the Spurs comes in and institutes on and off court principles.
Though the case with Messina as an assistant coach—and with every coach really—really revolves around whether or not he wants to leave the Spurs right now to take a head coaching job, he makes a ton of sense if you’re the Lakers. As such, it only makes sense that LA would at least set up a meeting to see if Messina could very well be the right man to replace Byron.
Next: Kevin Ollie, UConn
Kevin Ollie — UConn Head Coach
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One of the things that always seems to happen when high-profile NBA head coaching jobs open up is that some of the top coaches from college basketball start getting tossed around as potential candidates. Brad Stevens was a guy whose name you always heard before he got hired with the Boston Celtics. Moreover, Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari always seems to be linked to NBA jobs when they open up. However, the college coach that the Lakers should be looking at now that Byron Scott is out of the picture is Kevin Ollie, the current head coach of the UConn Huskies. He’s simply the guy that makes the most sense for the job right now.
Ollie has proven time and again since he took the job with UConn that he’s able of coaching up teams despite adversity. Though getting rid of Byron obviously rids the Lakers of a great deal of their problems in a sort of “addition by subtraction” situation, they’re still going to face adversity and Ollie seems equipped to deal with it and persevere.
More than that, though, the Lakers also have young talent that needs to develop and build a rapport together, which is why a college coach might be a decent fit in Los Angeles. At the very least, the front office in LA needs to listen to see what Ollie would have planned for the Lakers and the young core if he were to get the job.
Next: Jeff Hornacek, Former Suns Coach
Jeff Hornacek — Former Suns Head Coach
When you talk about former head coaches that are currently on the open market and ripe for the picking, you have to think about former Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek. Though he ultimately was dismissed from the desert in pretty unceremonious fashion, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the former Utah Jazz guard might’ve just been in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was at the helm of a situation that would’ve been toxic even if Gandhi was trying to play peacemaker with the roster.
All of that is to say that Hornacek may have gotten a bad rap for his time with the Suns. Remember that everyone around the league was once singing his praises for the job he did to almost get Phoenix into the postseason with a roster that many pundits believed wouldn’t be able to carry the team out of the top-3 in the NBA Draft Lottery. It was only after changes were made to the roster that left many players unhappy that things began to crumble under Hornacek.
In essence, Hornacek’s brief success and the bad situation that he was booted from makes him seem like a head coach that deserves another chance in this league. He’d have to actively try to do worse than Byron Scott, but I’d bet that he could actually do a lot of good with this young core for the Lakers and get the team heading in the right direction.
Next: Jeff Van Gundy, ESPN
Jeff Van Gundy — Former Knicks, Rockets Head Coach
One of the most interesting head coaching candidates every offseason is Jeff Van Gundy. He’s pretty clearly happy with his gig calling games for ESPN—even if he’s driving viewers crazy in the process. At the same time, though, JVG hasn’t closed the door on his NBA head coaching career and has always made it seem like he might take up his clipboard once more if the right opportunity presents itself. Now that Byron Scott is gone, you have to wonder if the bright lights of Los Angeles are what it’ll take to lure him away from ESPN.
When he was coaching teams like the New York Knicks or Houston Rockets however many years ago, Van Gundy proved he’s more than capable of getting it done in this league. While he may have some old school tendencies like the ones that Byron often displayed to the immense frustration of Lakers fans, he’s far more willing to adapt as a head coach and would seemingly be able to adapt to the more modern NBA.
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Some people will certainly shoot down the though of Jeff Van Gundy being the Lakers next head coach simply because of the era that he coached in previously and because he likely annoys them when he’s on TV. When you look at his track record and what he could potentially bring to the team, though, he might not be the worst guy for the job at all if the Lakers could ultimately lure him away from his commentary position.