The Lakers waited 11 days after their season finale to fire Scott, which meant they missed out on the chance to interview Tom Thibodeau or Scott Brooks, two respected veteran coaches who signed with other teams.
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Byron Scott coached the Los Angeles Lakers for two seasons that were both marred with losses.
After two seasons, Byron Scott’s bumpy ride as Lakers head coach has come to an end.
Scott’s tenure was comprised of the two worst regular-season records in franchise history and rocky relations with young talent that caused him to quickly lose favor with fans.
Scott’s contract expiring marks the ending of the worst two-year stretch in franchise history. Scott had inherited a team that finished with a 27-55 record under Mike D’Antoni.
“Scott was informed of the decision after the Lakers” minor-league affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, lost a playoff game Sunday night at the Lakers” training facility in El Segundo. However, Kupchak said the Lakers would like to hire their coach before the NBA Draft on June 23. The one thing the Lakers have working for them is talented guard play in Louis Williams, Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell.
In the press release announcing that Scott was let go, the Lakers added that “the search for a new head coach will begin immediately”.
Most people will want the Lakers to go after Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton.
Messina is an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, but he spent the 2011-12 season as a coaching consultant with the Lakers. They are flush with salary cap space this summer (more than $60 million), and still hopeful that free-agent-to-be Kevin Durant will choose to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder behind to join Laker Land in July.
Fisher is an interesting option for the Lakers because he is a familiar face and is young.
Luke Walton is the most obvious choice, as the former Laker did a wonderful job with the defending champion Golden State Warriors this season while standing in for Steve Kerr. While we expect the process to be long and arduous, here’s a look at three candidates they should consider.
While Scott is and always will be tied to the last Laker generation, Walton is tied to the young Lakers, having played with Kobe Bryant for several years during his playing career. Blatt will get a much easier start coaching a Lakers team that doesn’t have one player calling all the shots or four guys with massive egos.
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As for who is available to the Lakers, there are plenty of really good names out there, but there have been reports of a couple of intriguing names that have interest in the job. “I do feel we can make great progress”.
