After a 27-55 season, the Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Mike D’Antoni. After an extensive search and several interviews, the Lakers settled on a former Laker player, Byron Scott. Scott seems to be a popular choice, especially with star guard Kobe Bryant.
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According to Yannis Koutroupis of Hoops Rumors, Bryant and Scott have a “great relationship” and Scott is the best coach for Bryant at this point in his career.
"However, Scott is probably the best coach suited for Bryant at this stage of his career because of their familiarity dating back to Bryant’s rookie season, when Scott mentored him during his final year with the Lakers.“We’ve got a great relationship,” Scott said. “We’ve been texting each other all summer, you know, just talking and talking and talking. We’ve visited a couple times in person. He came in about three weeks ago, so we keep in contact. His biggest thing right now is to get these guys up to speed and make sure they’re all on board with what we’re trying to do. We both have the same thought process as far as what it takes to win. His first words to me were, ‘We gotta play defense.’ And it just brought a smile on my face because that’s exactly what we have to do. It’s gotta be defending first and if we can rebound that ball second, then we can get up and down the floor.”"
Bryant averaged 13.1 points, 6.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 42.5% from the field, 18.8% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free throw line. In his storied career, he has averaged 25.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 45.4% from the field, 33.5% from three and 83.8% from the charity stripe. Young averaged 17.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.6% from beyond the arc and 82.5% from the free throw line. In his career, he has averaged 12.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 42.9% from the floor, 37.7% from three and 82.7% from charity stripe.
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