Fansided

Byron Scott didn’t know his Lakers firing was imminent

By John Buhler

Mar 18, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott reacts during the second half against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center. The Phoenix Suns won 95-90. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott reacts during the second half against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center. The Phoenix Suns won 95-90. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Byron Scott apparently had no idea that Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak sent him a text to meet on a Sunday evening at the Lakers facility.

The Los Angeles Lakers have moved on from former head coach Byron Scott and have hired another former Lakers player, Luke Walton, to replace him on the sidelines for the 2016-17 NBA season. The Lakers went a terrible 17-65 in 2015-16, but even Scott thought he was going to be back with the Lakers for a third year in 2016-17.

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times put together a piece on how Scott found out he was canned, and what the head coach plans to do next.

According to Turner, Scott was supposed to meet with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak one Sunday evening at the Lakers’ practice facility at 7 p.m. PT. Scott said on Tuesday, “I didn’t really think nothing of the meeting… in my mind, getting fired was the last thing on my mind… From our conversations, I thought I was going to get another year.”

He would go on to say that he thought that he had a great working relationship with young players like D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle, but it one has to think that the feeling wasn’t mutual. Scott would keep Russell out of games early in the season, as the Lakers went 38-126 in his two years as head coach from 2014 to 2016.

Scott says he still wants to coach again, but he may not get a fifth NBA head coaching gig, especially with the way he coached the Lakers the last two years. To not see that the writing on the wall with a .232 winning percentage over two seasons is a tad absurd.

While Kupchak at least didn’t fire Scott over the phone via text message, it’s astonishing how this all came as a surprise for the former Lakers head coach. Will Walton right the ship in 2016-17? Who knows?

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