Byron Scott Thinks The Lakers Used Him Because Of His Relationship With Kobe Bryant


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Byron Scott coached the Lakers for the final two years of Kobe Bryant‘s tenure with the team, overseeing the worst part of a franchise’s transition from veteran contender to young, growing team in the process of a rebuild. The Lakers dug their way to the bottom in those two seasons and once Bryant’s retirement was official, the Lakers moved on by hiring another former Laker in Luke Walton to take his place.

Walton was the opposite of Scott in many ways. He brought over an offense from Golden State that focused on spreading the floor and playing with space, while Scott wasn’t a fan of the three-point shot and wanted more traditional sets. Walton is also a player’s coach. His style is one that encourages young players with a more delicate approach than Scott’s hard-nosed “tough love” style, and it’s something his players love, as Brandon Ingram recently told us.

There are many that wondered why Scott was handed the keys to the Lakers at the start of what was clearly a rebuilding process, if that is obviously something that his style isn’t very suited for. Scott himself, has his own theory that he told Mark Medina of the Orange County Register. Scott thinks it simply came down to the fact that he’s one of the few people they could hire that had the respect of Kobe.

“If I asked him to do certain things, Kobe would do it because of his respect for me,” said Scott, who mentored Bryant during his rookie season in 1996-97. “Basically, you just wanted me there to help you guys get through the next two years, so Kobe doesn’t go crazy on you guys. I would be the one that can handle it. They know me. I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to be intimidated by anybody.”

Scott says he felt “betrayed, lied to, and deceived” by Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss, who were running the Lakers at the time but have since been dismissed from their roles in the front office.

Looking back, Scott probably has a good point here. The Lakers wanted the best of both worlds. They wanted to be bad, developing young players and building assets while also allowing Bryant to go on his farewell tour, which ensured the arena would stay full and the bottom line wouldn’t be effected nearly as much as other teams when they start losing.

They almost got exactly what they wanted, but the problem was Scott and the young players didn’t necessarily mesh well — he famously didn’t get along with D’Angelo Russell. Now, Walton has taken on the task of developing the young talent and the Lakers appear poised to take a leap soon, should Paul George’s desires to become a Laker next offseason as a free agent be true.

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