The worst-kept secret of the young NBA season has been the Los Angeles Lakers being utterly terrible. A team that spoke a lot about pushing for a playoff spot, despite being in the midst of a long rebuilding process, has started its season at a miserable 3-15 record. With the lack of success both in terms of record and in terms of the on-court product, many have called for head coach Byron Scott to be relieved from his duties immediately. According to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports, that is highly unlikely:
But according to a person with knowledge of the Lakers’ situation, it’s extremely unlikely that either option will be exercised anytime soon. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Byron Scott has not been a good head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has routinely benched young players in need of playing time to develop (namely, D’Angelo Russell), he has enabled Kobe Bryant to hijack the offense and put up terrible shot after terrible shot, and while he has often spoken about his priority being winning games, he has not done so very often.
Nevertheless, it seems as though the Lakers are content in letting him coach through this season, at least. Expectations in terms of the number of wins this season were not very high, despite what the front office publicly claimed. Additionally, with the Lakers being a canvas for Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour, any sort of perceived discombobulation around the team may be less than ideal.
Despite these rumors, Scott may be sitting on the hottest of seats. With the Lakers owning a ton of cap space this summer and looking to add one or more stars, a vacant coaching position could be a good selling point. For now, it seems that the next 64 games of the Lakers’ season will be a pseudo-audition for Scott in trying to retain his job.
