Tag: Byron Scott

Which Lakers have participated in the NBA’s 3-Point Contest?

A look back at the Lakers players who competed in the NBA’s Three-Point Contest during All-Star Saturday.

On Saturday at NBA All-Star weekend, Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks won his second straight 3-point contest. It was definitely “Dame Time” in Indianapolis. He hit his final attempt to edge Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns in the final round.

The contest was started during the 1985-86 season, six years after the 3-point shot made its way into the league. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics won the first three contests. Several years later, the Chicago Bulls’ Craig Hodges became the only other player to win the competition three straight times.

While the Los Angeles Lakers have never been known as an elite 3-point shooting team despite their illustrious history, they have had three participants in the 3-point contest over the years.

Byron Scott on Kobe Bryant not in the greatest ever debates

Kobe Bryant doesn’t come up in the debate of who is the greatest NBA player ever, and former teammate Byron Scott feels that is wrong.

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These days, the debate about who is the greatest player in NBA history has been reduced to two people: LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Although Jordan still seems to be the favorite in that debate, an increasing number of people, both young and old, believe James is the greatest basketball player of all time.

But seemingly forgotten in this debate is late Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant. His resume is almost second to none in the sport’s history: five NBA championships, two scoring titles, two NBA Finals MVPs, two Olympic gold medals and countless indelible memories.

Former Laker Byron Scott, who played with and coached Bryant, told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson while on “Scoop B Selects” how he feels about the Black Mamba getting shortchanged in the greatest-ever discussions.

Scott also said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, another former teammate of his, has been disrespected in this debate.

No matter where Bryant truly belongs on the list of the greatest NBA players, he left a mark on Lakers Nation and on the Los Angeles area that will live forever.

Byron Scott: Rob Pelinka should be Executive of the Year

Former Lakers star Byron Scott had some high praise for Rob Pelinka, the franchise’s current general manager.

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In a matter of a few months, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka took what looked like a broken roster and not only fixed it but made it into a championship-caliber one.

In a couple of midseason trades, he turned the talented but polarizing and ill-fitting Russell Westbrook, little-used guard Kendrick Nunn and modest draft capital into Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt. Suddenly, the Lakers had a roster that was cohesive, and it took them all the way to the Western Conference finals.

Earlier this summer, Pelinka re-signed Hachimura, Russell and emerging star Austin Reaves while adding free agents Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes. These moves have earned him rave reviews from people across the NBA.

In fact, Lakers legend Magic Johnson recently said Pelinka will win the Executive of the Year award, a sentiment former teammate Byron Scott echoed to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson while on an episode of “Scoop B Selects” (h/t The Cold Wire).

Scott, who won three NBA championships with the Showtime Lakers in the 1980s, also said he’d be surprised if his former team doesn’t reach the final series this season, barring injuries of course.

Los Angeles isn’t the favorite to win it all or reach the championship round, but it could get there just as easily as the Denver Nuggets or Phoenix Suns.

‘Showtime’ Lakers reunited for a practice in Hawaii with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and it looked so fun

They had a ‘walk-around’ practice led by their former coach. Pat Riley.

Everyone loves talking about Magic Johnson and the “Showtime” Lakers.

There was the “Winning Time” HBO Series about the squad, starring John C. Reilly among other notable names. There is the new Hulu docu-series about the Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar started a video podcast, Skyhook, about his time with the team as well.

Even though the group hasn’t played together since 1989, the “Showtime” Lakers probably get more media coverage than most modern NBA teams. That continued this week because, as first reported by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on The Lowe Post podcast, they reunited in Hawaii.

Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson, and other players on the team, shared some awesome photos and videos of the experience:

This looked like a truly delightful experience for the old teammates to get together once again now more than three decades later. The guys played golf together and reflected on their success and all of their relationships.

Spectrum SportsNet will premiere a “ShowTime Reunion” special on Nov. 4 once the post-game show concludes after the Lakers play the Jazz.

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Lakers legend Byron Scott talks about how the Los Angeles-Boston Celtics rivalry was in his day

Before the AAU era of NBA basketball, rivalries were no trivial thing.

While the NBA seems to come up with new rivalries each season based on a desire to create competitive animosity between franchises, using any excuse, despite a general sense of collegiality between teams, fans of the game today may not be aware how seriously players took the rivalries in the old NBA to heart.

Such was the case in the league’s most storied rivalry that continues — at least between some players and fans — to the present. That is, of course, the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The rivalry between the two clubs dates to the 1960s and regained its relevance after a long lull when Los Angeles tied the title count with Boston at 17 not too long ago.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QFIICVBOFfQ

Hear about how that dynamic was back in the day from one of the Lakers legends himself, Byron Scott on his eponymous podcast, embedded above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Byron Scott thinks Russell Westbrook can work with Lakers

Former Lakers player and head coach Byron Scott thinks Russell Westbrook could work very well with his old team this season.

Most, if not all, Los Angeles Lakers fans are down on Russell Westbrook and want him traded before training camp starts.

But a few observers actually think the former league MVP can play well with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, even after an ugly 2021-22 season.

Former Lakers star Norm Nixon said recently he has faith it can all work out for them. Byron Scott, the man he was traded for in 1983, seems to feel the same way.

Via Lakers Nation:

“Them just trying to force that whole situation to work, it was just chaos from the start. And the fact that Anthony (Davis) wasn’t healthy enough to really have any type of cohesiveness or chemistry between those three. I’m hoping this year that they’re healthy, I’m hoping that they’ve been working out and getting ready for the season, getting ready for the preseason and all that stuff because I think those guys together could be dynamic. But it’s gonna be one way or another, it’s gonna be really good or really bad, no in between.”

If Westbrook is still on the roster when the season starts, he will at least have the benefit of one season with the Purple and Gold under his belt.

Bad roster construction was a major reason last season’s Lakers missed the playoffs, and although this season’s roster doesn’t look a whole lot better, it isn’t quite as bad as it was months ago.

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In a recent appearance on the ‘Getcha …

In a recent appearance on the ‘Getcha Popcorn Ready’ podcast hosted by Terrell Owens and Matthew Hatchette, the ex-Lakers coach went off after being asked if he felt that the modern analytics movement “ruined the game”: Via fubo Sports: “Absolutely. I really started to see a change when I got to the Lakers as a coach because they used that so much as a weapon, ‘well, the analytics tells us..’ I understand the analytics. You’ve got to shoot more threes. But you can’t more threes if you have guys that can’t shoot. I said, ‘So what does that analytics telling you?’”

Ex-Nets coach Byron Scott: Black coaches don’t get jobs with ‘built-in superstardom’

Former New Jersey Nets head coach Byron Scott thinks NBA players need to do more to help Black coaches.

Stephen A. Smith may be the loudest voice among those saying the Nets’ hiring of Steve Nash as Brooklyn’s next head coach is an example of white privilege, but he’s not the only one who’s expressed that opinion.

Byron Scott was the latest to state his frustration with Black coaches getting passed up for the job.

Though the former New Jersey Nets head coach “wasn’t surprised” or “shocked” by the hire — and spoke kindly of Nash — he does have a question for Brooklyn’s front office:

“My first thought was ‘why didn’t Mark Jackson or some other African-American guys who have coached in this league get an opportunity to at least go and do interview with the Brooklyn Nets?'” Scott told TMZ.

With the Nets announcement of Nash’s hiring, general manager Sean Marks expressed the organization met “with a number of highly accomplished coaching candidates from diverse backgrounds.”

Scott, who stated Kobe Bryant helped him land the Lakers job back in 2014, also explained what type of opportunities Black coaches typically get in the NBA.

We don’t get those jobs. When I’m talking about ‘we,’ I’m talking about Black coaches. We don’t get jobs that are that set and that good — when you got two All-Stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. … We don’t get those jobs where you have built-in superstardom guys on that roster right away.

We get the kind of jobs where you have to make something out of nothing and when you don’t or you’re not able to do it, they’ll say, ‘Well, we gave him the opportunity.’

From his vantage point, Scott thinks the players need to do more to help Black coaches:

Our players don’t do a good enough job of advocating for Black coaches. That’s just something we have to change, as well. It’s just one of those things that’s going to take time. We all know that, but I think it’s something we have to pay attention to.

I wouldn’t say the onus is directly on them. I don’t wanna put that type of pressure on the players. I do want them to stand up for Black coaches though. I think they should be a little bit more involved in the process. … I think they understand that they do have a voice and they have a platform where they will be heard if they do voice their opinion. But I don’t want them to do nothing that doesn’t feel right to them.