The Los Angeles Lakers have had a hard time finding a good head coach that fits their vision. Ever since Phil Jackson left it’s been pretty rocky on the bench. Mike D’Antoni? Man was that constant barking by everybody. Mike Brown? That was just a plain train wreck.
Byron Scott is in the hot seat now and he has some leeway because the team is rebuilding. But in rebuild terms, he’s done okay. Jim Buss has all the confidence in him, pretty much because he has ‘Laker Blood in him‘.
“He has the Laker blood in him,” Buss said. “[Mike] D’Antoni and Mike Brown, they weren’t Lakers. They loved the Lakers and they tried their best and I think they’re both great coaches.
“I’ll take blame for that, but there was a lot of people, including my father [the late Jerry Buss] and Mitch [Kupchak], who were in favor of these changes. But it feels like we’ve righted the ship. We’ve got the coach, we’ve got the players.”
“You can call him ‘old school,’ but what is he 50? He’s very flexible” said Buss. “He gets all the analytical parts of it, he’s not set in his ways. If he sees something that’s going to improve the team, he’s going to do it.“
I like Byron as a coach. Especially on the Lakers. I think the young players see Scott, knowing that he was part of the Lakers at a very successful time. And I think that resonates with them. When he talks to them, they know who he is and should be more comfortable.
