The Lakers are still searching for their next coach as a number of worthy candidates continue to be snatched away. So far, Stan Van Gundy, Steve Kerr, and Kevin Ollie have all been locked in to other places.
One of the most popular names since the beginning of the search is former Lakers guard Byron Scott, who served as an analyst for the team this past season. Despite so many other candidates out there, Scott’s former teammate and fellow analyst James Worthy endorsed him in an interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
I played with Byron Scott, so I know what he brings to the table. I know that he holds people accountable and he’s a defensive kind of genius when it comes to that […] I got to go with my good friend Byron Scott, if it was up to me.
Scott definitely has the qualifications for this job. He took the New Jersey Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and also won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2008 as coach of the New Orleans Hornets.
— Think You’re The Biggest Lakers Fan? Take The Ultimate Fan Quiz! —
Scott also understands what it means to be a part of this organization, and he tends to have great relationships with his players as evidenced by the relationship he has maintained with Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul after being fired from those respective jobs.
Worthy may be a little biased as he and Scott are obviously good friends, but that doesn’t take away from Scott being an excellent candidate. Whether he gets the job is up in the air, but Scott will definitely get major consideration.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
[new_royalslider id=”279″]