Rumors

It'll take plenty of work, but Thomas Scott is willing to put that work in. He has seen hard work all of his life watching his dad. It’s one of the things his father passed down to him. “I’ve always observed my dad being very disciplined and always moving as a professional,” he said. “Very punctual. Very consistent on a day-to-day basis. Somebody that knew how to lock in and stay very focused. He has a lot of personality off the court. But when it came down to working, his work ethic is unmatched.”

New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Life has a way of doing that to you and taking you full circle,” Byron Scott said. “My son’s time in New Orleans is when he really started getting the bug about getting involved in basketball. One thing about him is he’s worked his (butt) for years to get in position to do something like this. I’m so proud and happy for him."

New Orleans Times-Picayune

JR Smith: "Anybody knows who Byron Scott as a coach, probably second to none on you're going to be in shape where they're going to make you quit. And we did this drill that lasted, first 35 minutes of practice, and it was all running. And I literally thought to myself for sure I should have went to college."

YouTube

The Lakers aren't far from being a championship-caliber team, but they may need to make a couple of significant changes this offseason in order to get to that level. Byron Scott, a former star for them during the Showtime era, feels one of those changes has to be telling James to hit the road. “You getting paid $50 million,” Scott said. “You’re 41, 42, 43 years old, right? You got a three-headed monster like you’re talking about. The Lakers, if you want to move on and be a championship team for the next five, six, seven years, you got to build around Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves. You can’t do that if he’s still here. He’s $50 million. That comes off the cap. You can go get two really good basketball players. And young basketball players that can come in there and help.”

USAToday.com

Jorge Sierra: There are the top playoff scorers... among players who never made the All-Star. CJ McCollum could soon crack the Top 10.

Twitter

James Worthy: Celebrating Byron’s birthday w our Showtime teammates 💜💛 @official_bscott @ShowtimeCooper @bgoodvlade @MagicJohnson @kaj33 #JamaalWilkes #GaryVitti

Twitter

NBA Courtside: “I think this is his final year with the Lakers. I think he’ll go back to Cleveland and play one more year there” - Byron Scott on LeBron James (Via Byron Scott fast break)

x.com

NBA Courtside: Byron Scott and Olden Polynice don’t think LeBron will retire in LA because he is not a ‘true Laker’ Olden: He’s not a true Laker Byron: I think that’s part of it. You got so many greats who have retired a Laker. I think LeBron likes going off script Olden: I’m not trying to be disrespectful but just his mentality. Just like the fan base. There are Laker fan base, and there are Kobe fan base.

x.com

Jeremy Lin spent one year on the Lakers during the 2014-15 season, which was Bryant’s penultimate season in the league. During a recent episode of Dwight Howard’s “Above the Rim” podcast, Lin dished on one incident that led Bryant to ice him out for several months. The Taiwanese-American guard recalled a disagreement he had with Bryant during a late-game situation that year. Bryant was supposedly telling Lin to foul intentionally, while then-Lakers head coach Byron Scott urged Lin not to. The conflicting advice kept Lin from fouling right away. Lin noticed Bryant display negative body language toward him over the incident, prompting the point guard to text his superstar teammate after the game. “I texted him, ‘Hey man, I don’t appreciate the body language,’ Lin recounted to Howard. “And he came back with a sharp response, and I came back at him. “It ended cordial, where I ended up saying, ‘I’m not saying you can’t teach me. You’re obviously a hundred times the player that I am. I want to learn anything and everything I can from you. I’m just asking if, could you just say and do it in a way that’s respectful to me as a man.'” According to Lin, Bryant initially responded positively, saying he understood the message and even gave him specific areas to work on. Lin then revealed that Bryant didn’t speak to him “for the next five months.”

Larry Brown Sports

Former Laker Byron Scott wants LeBron off his team. "I think this should be his last year here... You don't have to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here."😳 (h/t @TheNBABase )

x.com

While James' agent, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul, has his back, Paul refused to outright call Scott out for his remarks towards the Lakers star out of respect for one of the OGs of the sport. “You can say or do something that looks or feels good in the moment, but looks foolish and probably is foolish and lives foolishly forever. For me I was always taught to respect my elders. To respect everyone, but definitely to respect my elders,” Paul said on the latest episode of the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman. “But then someday I sit there and think, and I see things, and I’m like but what about when your elders do things or say things that actually warrants disrespect. And it’s been a lot of that going on.”

Clutch Points

Q. How much was Magic freelancing the key to success of that team, the Showtime? Byron Scott: I think every opportunity that he got to kind of go off script of things that were supposed to be playing because of the way that opponents played us, it was probably 75 percent of the time. As great a coach as Pat Riley was, Magic, I still say to this day the greatest point guard I've ever seen. 

YouTube

Q. You said Magic was freelancing 75 percent of the time. I mean that’s… Byron Scott: He was like I said controlling everything. He controlled the game. The closest to him to me right now is the Joker (Nikola Jokic). The Joker is a guy that controls the pace, the guys that play with him understand that he is more than willing to make them better and to help them. So I think he is the closest to Magic Johnson that I've seen and I'm not going by position, just is the way his knowledge of the game and the way that he sees the game. He's probably the closest in the game today. Well, he's changing the game now. They used to say point forwards now is a point center.

YouTube

Byron Scott on how he became a Laker after being drafted by the Clippers: What was their hesitation on not signing you?  Byron Scott: If you hear some of the stories, Donald Sterling wanted a Laker. He wanted a Laker badly. And I think he had met with Dr. Jerry Buss at some dinner or something and they talked about some things and Norm Nixon's name was mentioned. So Sterling went back to the head guys, Pete Babcock and those guys, and said ‘I want to make this trade’. So basically the Clippers traded my draft rights to the Lakers and Swen Nater for Norm Nixon and Eddie Jordan.

YouTube