Kobe Bryant wants Byron Scott to coach Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe Bryant is still one of the biggest names in basketball. So when he throws out a coaching recommendation, everybody listens. Right now, he wants the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers to be Byron Scott.

Right now, even without Kobe’s recommendation, Byron Scott is the front runner for the Lakers head coaching job. All the other candidates LA has talked to so far have been hired by other teams. The last man standing is Scott. This could be seen as a sign that Scott is the weakest of the candidates, but I think that has more to do with the Lakers waiting as long as they have on hiring a coach, than Scott’s credibility.

Scott has been the head coach of three previous teams, the Jason Kidd New Jersey Nets, Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets, and Kyrie Irving Cleveland Cavaliers. Scott went to the finals twice while coaching the Nets and while in New Orleans he took the Hornets to the 2nd round. After being fired from New Orleans, Chris Paul made it publicly known he was unhappy with the firing.

Outside of this, Scott isn’t known for taking teams above and beyond what they can do. While Cleveland isn’t the best example, that team didn’t show any progress during his tenure as coach. Scott also doesn’t bring very many wins with him. While there are high moments, he has even more low moments.

It’s hard for the Lakers to go against what Kobe wants. On the other hand, I think the main reason they’re considering hiring Scott is so they can sell how he played for the Lakers as a player. Not sure that’s the best way to run a team.

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