Former shooting guard for the “Showtime” Lakers teams of yore Byron Scott interviewed for the Lakers’ coaching vacancy on Tuesday this week. Scott said Kobe Bryant will “have to change his game” if he’s hired as coach, which could represent a challenge for Lakers brass if Kobe’s involved in choosing the next coach.
Sources: Lakers interviewed Byron Scott for vacant head coaching position yesterday.
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) May 22, 2014
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Scott confirmed the interview on Sirius XM’s Coaches Corner radio show:
“I had a great time talking with those guys,” Scott said, by way of Mark Medina at Los Angeles Daily News. “Obviously I go way back with Mitch [Kupchak]. We were teammates for a while and won a couple of championships together, so it was good. That’s basically all I can tell you. It was good, I had a lot of fun talking to them. Hopefully we’ll be talking again soon and we’ll see what happens.”
He also opened up about the position while on ESPN Los Angeles’ 710 FM as tweeted out by producer Karlo Sy Su:
Byron Scott on @ESPNLA710: "The interview went well…I think its the perfect fit…I am the perfect guy for this job" #Lakers
— Karlo Sy Su (@KarloSySu) May 22, 2014
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Byron Scott: "It would mean a great deal for me because I played for the organization and won a championship…and for Dr. Buss"
— Karlo Sy Su (@KarloSySu) May 22, 2014
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Scott on Kobe: "He's gonna have to change his game a little bit and he knows that. He knows me and I'm an old-school type of guy"
— Karlo Sy Su (@KarloSySu) May 22, 2014
That last quote is a doozy. Kobe famously clashed with Mike D’Antoni‘s up-and-down style, which wasn’t the type of basketball he wanted to be playing when he’s turning 36 in August. Keep in mind, Kobe idolized Mike before he came to the Lakers because the mustachioed coach starred in Italy when Kobe was growing up there as an adolescent.
So for Scott to publicly say Kobe would have to change his game so late in his hall of fame career, could mean the Lakers go elsewhere when hiring a coach.
Kobe recently told Jimmy Kimmel he wasn’t consulted on the Lakers’ last two coaching hires (Mike Brown and D’Antoni), but that he hoped to have a say in this recent coaching search.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has been pretty adamant Kobe will have no bearing on the hire, though.
The only other person interviewed this week was former Clippers (and Lakers) coach, Mike Dunleavy, Sr., but the eldest Dunleavy didn’t speak with co-owner Jerry Buss, like Scott did during his vetting process.
Magic Johnson who was vocal about his displeasure with LA’s last coach, appeared cheery at the news Scott had gotten the full treatment from the Lakers.
Scott teamed with Magic in the Lakers’ backcourt after the departure of Norm Nixon for those dynastic Lakers teams from the 1980s. The two even teamed with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to form the third-winningest playoff trio in NBA history.
Laker Nation: Great to see my former teammate Byron Scott get interviewed for the Lakers head coaching job!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 22, 2014
If Mamba isn’t happy during the last two seasons of his hall-of-fame career, will Scott even be able to control next season’s Lakers team?
(H/T B/R)
Is Scott a good choice, considering a possible conflict with Kobe?
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