The Lakers lost out on Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Love is paying more attention to a California team a little further north. It was assumed around the league that they were trying to build a roster, then grab a coach, but it seems like this new Laker team will develop in a different way than planned.
According to Chris Broussard and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, The Lakers are interviewing Byron Scott again for the job; this will be his third visit with Los Angeles to talk about the coaching vacancy. Scott last coached in Cleveland, in 2012.
Scott played 11 of his 14 NBA seasons with the Lakers and has been considered the leading candidate for the position for weeks. Kobe Bryant has made it clear that he is rooting for Scott to take the Job, too.
Scott is being patient with the process, and said he liked the pick-up of Jeremy Lin last week.
"It's still open," Scott said when asked about the coaching position during a call-in segment with the Lakers' television partner, Time Warner Cable SportsNet, last Friday. "I know, in my dealings in talking with Mitch and Jim [Buss, vice president of player personnel], they want to get the roster together and then focus on the coaching. So, myself, or whoever else are the other candidates, that's what we're all waiting for and we're kind of looking at what's going on [in free agency] to see if that's all done and then see next week what they're going to do with the coaching vacancy.
"So, it's just one of those things that's a wait-and-see game right now, but like I said, I like the moves that they made today. I think it's going to help the team and strengthen the team, and obviously it still puts them in a good, flexible position for next year."
Through out his NBA coaching career in New Jersey, New Orleans and Cleveland so far, Scott has only won 44 percent of the games in the regular season, but has has won 54 percent in the playoffs.
