Byron Scott

At 63 years old, Byron Scott has this physical status:

Early life & college career

Scott grew up in Inglewood, California, and graduated at Morningside High School, in the shadow of what was then the Lakers' home arena, The Forum. He played college basketball at Arizona State University for three years and had a fruitful association with the Sun Devils. In 1980 and 1983, he was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Pac-10. During his time with the Sun Devils, he averaged 17.5 points per game. He left after his junior year and made the 1983 NBA Draft. In 2011, he was ranked No. 1 in the world of No. 1st. The Arizona State Sun Devils cut 11 off early.

Professional career

Scott was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983 in exchange for Norm Nixon, according to the San Diego Clippers in the first round. Scott suited up for the Lakers, Indiana Pacers, and the Vancouver Grizzlies during his playing career. Scott was a key player for the Lakers during the Showtime era, appearing alongside Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and A. C. Green. He was a member of the Lakers for ten seasons (1983-1993). He was on three NBA championship teams (1985, 1987, 1988). Scott was a member of the 1984 all-rookie team, averaging 10.6 PPG in 22 MPG. In 1984–85, he led the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.433). Scott enjoyed his best season in 1987-88, leading the NBA champion Lakers in scoring, averaging 21.7 ppg and 1.91 spg. From 1984 to 1993, he was the Lakers' starting shooting guard.

Scott was fired by the Lakers after the 1992-93 season and signed a free-agent deal with the Pacers. Scott made the game-winning three-point shot with 2.4 seconds remaining in Game 1 of the Pacers' first-round playoff match against the Orlando Magic. For the first time in franchise history, the Pacers will sweep the Magic and then advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the 1995 NBA expansion draft, Scott was left unprotected by the Pacers and was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies, where he spent one season.

In 1996–97, Scott's last year in the NBA, he returned to the Lakers, where he was a valuable mentor (Scott will be Bryant's coach on the Lakers until the end of the season).

Scott joined the Greek Basket League's Panathinaikos for the 1997–98 season in the summer of 1997. After the top-tier EuroLeague and the Greek Basket League, he played for Panathinaikos in both the FIBA Saporta Cup (formerly known as the FIBA EuroCup), Europe's second-tier level competition after the top-tier EuroLeague and the Greek Basket League. In 17.4 minutes per game, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in the Saporta Cup's 1997–98 season.

Scott helped lead his team to the Greek Basket League championship by scoring in many critical games. In 34 games played, he averaged 17.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in the Greek Basket League's 1997-98 season. Scott Retired from playing competitive basketball and began his teaching career after one season with the Greek Basket League champions.

Coaching career

Scott began his NBA coaching career in 1998, when he began his two-years as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. During his time with the Kings, he concentrated on perimeter shooting and helped the team win by a high three-point shooting percentage during two seasons.

Scott took over a struggling New Jersey Nets team in 2000. His team did poorly in his first year in 2001, but with the addition of Jason Kidd, the Nets raced to a franchise record of 52 wins. They captured their first Atlantic Division crown and met the Los Angeles Lakers in their first NBA Finals appearance. Despite losing the championship series to Los Angeles, Scott returned to coach the team after another fruitful season in 2002-03, but this time to the San Antonio Spurs. In game six, New Jersey was up by double figures, but the Spurs tightened up their defense, which won the game and the championship.

Although New Jersey had a disappointing 22-20 record going into the All-Star break even though they were leading their division at the time of Scott's dismissal, the team was still reeling during the 2003-04 season. Scott and Kidd's rift was confirmed by reports, with reports reportedly saying that Kidd wanted Scott out of Jersey. Nets GM Rod Thorn, the former chief of the group, denied the allegations. Scott said he was "very surprised" by the study and that he and Kidd "always got along."

Lawrence Frank, his secretary, was able to replace him. When coaching the Nets, Scott lived in Livingston, New Jersey.

In 2004, Scott became the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. Chris Paul was drafted by the team in 2005 and named Rookie of the Year by the team in 2005. He led the team to two sub.500 seasons in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. Due to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, the team lost the majority of its home games in Oklahoma City.

Scott had his first winning season as the Hornets' head coach in the 2007-08 season. They had a winning percentage of.683 with a record of 56–26. They were the Southwest Division champions and finished second overall in the Western Conference, finishing 2nd overall. Scott was named the head coach of the 2008 Western Conference All-Star team, and just months later, he was named the 2007–08 NBA Coach of the Year Award. Scott was given a two-year contract extension due to his exploits.

The Hornets advanced to the second seed in the Western Conference Playoffs after a 30-11 home record and a 26-15 road record. The Hornets defeated the Dallas Mavericks in their first-round match, winning a 4–1 record for the series. In the conference semifinals, the San Antonio Spurs, the defending champions, will meet the San Antonio Spurs. The veteran Spurs will win by 91–82 on the Hornets rowdy home court, an unusual pattern of home court blowouts would continue throughout the series until game 7 where the Spurs will win by 91–82. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich won their 100th playoff match.

The Hornets finished 49–33 in 2008-09 and qualified as a seventh seed in the playoffs. In the first round, they met the Denver Nuggets, losing by five games, including a 58-point loss in game 4, which tied for the first loss in NBA postseason history. Following a 3–6 start, Scott was suspended from his head coaching duties for the Hornets on November 12, 2009. He had been rumored for several NBA coaching positions, including the Chicago Bulls.

After his promotion, he briefly worked as a studio analyst for the NBA on ESPN.

Scott was named head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 1, just days before the team lost LeBron James to the Miami Heat. During Scott's first season as the Cavaliers' president, he watched his team suffer a 26-game losing streak, which was then the longest in NBA history. Scott was reunited with Baron Davis (whom he coached with the Hornets) after a mid-season trade brought Davis to Cleveland and the Cavaliers to a close season with several victories, including a 102-90 victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat, ensuring that Cleveland did not have the lowest record in the league at the season's end.

Cleveland selected Kyrie Irving, the second point guard to receive the Rookie of the Year award, after he was the second overall pick to draft the second point guard. In a shortened 66-game schedule, the Cleveland natives' second season saw them show some improvement.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' Scott was fired on April 18, 2013 by their general manager. Despite the fact that the Cavaliers finished in last season in defensive efficiency in three of his three seasons, analysts were taken aback by the team's youthful and injured rosters. Irving and other Cavaliers players expressed their dissatisfaction with the firing.

Scott spent time on Time Warner Cable SportsNet in 2013-2014 as a Los Angeles television analyst. He was the front runner to replace the Lakers head coach early in the season. Scott was interviewed three times for the role, which had become vacant following Mike D'Antoni's departure. He signed a multi-year deal with the Lakers on July 28, 2014.

Scott spent his first season as the team's coach from 2014-2015, a 21–61 record. The Lakers selected Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. In 2015–16, Kobe Bryant's last season, the Lakers finished a franchise-worst 17–65, Kobe Bryant's last season before retiring. The Lakers did not exercise their right on Scott's deal for the following season on April 24, 2016, opting to hire a new coach. His 38–126 (.232) record with the team was the lowest of any of the team's 16 coaches who had ruled the franchise for at least two seasons.

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