Once again, Byron Scott has been tricked into taking another horrible coaching job at the Los Angeles Lakers. Right now, the Lakers’ record is 1-5 and they are in last place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. As many of you know, Scott’s last job as head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers did not go as planned.
He was bought to replace Mike Brown in an attempt to keep LeBron James in Cleveland, but we all know how that ended. Overall, life after LeBron’s plan fizzled out as the Cavaliers failed to make the playoffs under Scott.
Scott was eventually fired only to be replaced by Mike Brown once again. Since he was fired by the then-New Orleans Hornets and New Jersey Nets, Scott has struggled to find a job that established stars and a surrounding cast to once again become a successful head coach. Now it seems that he is in the same situation once again with the Lakers.
In the 2014 offseason there were at least three superstars available for the Lakers to sign for a chance to contend in the highly competitive Western Conference. LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony all refused to sign with the Lakers in the offseason.
If you ask me, it’s shocking to discover that no big-name free agent wanted to wear the coveted purple and gold uniform. Instead, the Lakers front office decided to sign the likes of Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin.
Boozer and Lin are good complementary players for Kobe Bryant, but he needs someone other than him to make the big decisions. As many of you already know, Kobe is doing exactly that, taking all the shots. He is doing it because he realizes there is no one else to make key contributions to this baseball club. Kobe Bryant is 36 years old, nine years older than LeBron James.
It’s at the point where his body can’t take the physical punishment he once took a few years ago. Coach Scott has to find a way to get Kobe out of some of those blowout games if they want to keep him around for a few more years. About a month ago, the daughter of former Lakers owner the late Dr. Jerry Buss Jeanie Buss appeared on ESPN’s First Take to discuss recent problems in the Lakers organization.
There was a report that free agents decided not to sign with the Lakers because they didn’t want to play with yours truly Kobe Bryant. Buss’ response to those rumors was “Any free agent who’s afraid to play Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I’m glad they wouldn’t come to the team,” those were the exact words of Jennie Buss in her interview. at First Take a few weeks ago.
Now, if you ask me, Coach Scott is in an uphill battle to get top-tier free agents to sign with the Lakers. From what I gleaned from the interview, there seems to be some conflict between the brother duo who run the Lakers. If the Lakers Organization can’t work out its problems at the top, Byron Scott will be doomed once again.
Honestly, I think it sucks for Coach Scott to go through this one more time, you know what he’s capable of when he’s got the talent to work with. He led the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals twice during his tenure as head coach. He also led the New Orleans Hornets to one of their best records in team history in 2008. Hopefully, when heads start rolling in Laker Land, he won’t become the scapegoat.
