Los Angeles Lakers will be surprise team says Byron Scott
By Bryan Rose
While the Los Angeles Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Nick Young, that’s not exactly the type of core you need to be a perennial powerhouse.
More from Los Angeles Lakers
- NBA rumors: Hawks trade candidate, Sixers miss out, Lakers almost lose Reaves
- Predicting NBA’s Christmas Day Schedule: Lakers, Warriors highlight slate of postseason rematches
- Bronny James collapses at practice, taken to ICU with cardiac arrest
- NBA Rumors: Lakers nearing another savvy minimum signing
- Lakers projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
In fact, that’s a core that may struggle to put up a 35-win campaign, especially with a sub-par bench like the Lakers have. Despite that, there is shockingly plenty of optimism within the Los Angeles Lakers organization, some of which is coming from newly signed head coach Byron Scott.
Speaking to Mike Trudell, Scott suggested that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be a better team than many believe and feels they will surprise the doubters.
“I’ve been in this league for 30 plus years as a player and a coach. We feel the same way about this roster that we have,” Scott said. “We know a lot of people aren’t going to give us a chance, but we feel we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
While the NBA’s Eastern Conference may be top-heavy, the Western Conference is nothing short of stacked with depth and it took 50+ wins for the eighth seed to make the postseason last year. Given that, it seems as if the Los Angeles Lakers may find themselves towards the bottom of the standings, even if they do put forth a better record than anticipated by many.
Granted, you never want to underestimate Kobe Bryant, but it seems difficult to believe he’ll be able to lead the Lakers back to glory with the roster currently assembled around him.