It Is Official: Lakers Get New Coach

The Los Angeles Lakers announced tonight they have signed Byron Scott to a multi-year contract as coach, succeeding Mike D’Antoni, who resigned in April following the team’s worst season since moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

“After an extensive and thorough search, we’re proud to welcome Byron back to the Lakers family as our next head coach,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said.

“Byron has proven himself at the highest levels of the game as both a player and a coach in his almost 30 years of NBA experience. His leadership skills and track record for success make him the ideal person to lead this franchise forward.”

Scott, the Lakers’ starting shooting guard on three championship teams in the 1980s, said he was “ecstatic to once again be a Laker and to have the opportunity to work alongside Mitch and the Buss family,” referring to the family that owns the team.

“I know firsthand what it takes to bring a championship to this city, and as someone who both grew up in L.A. and played the majority of my career here, I know how passionate and dedicated our fans are,” Scott said.

“I will give everything I have to fulfill the championship expectations that our supporters have for us, and that we have for ourselves.”

Scott, a graduate of Morningside High School in Inglewood, was an analyst on Laker pregame and postgame shows this past season on Time Warner Cable SportsNet after coaching 13 seasons in the NBA with three teams.

Scott guided the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals in 2002, losing to the Lakers, and 2003, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. He was selected as the NBA’s coach of the year for the 2007-2008 season when he was with the New Orleans Hornets.

Scott’s most recent coaching position was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who he coached from 2010-13.

Scott played 14 seasons in the NBA, 11 with the Lakers. In his final season as a player, 1996-97, he was a teammate of Kobe Bryant, then a rookie.

Scott becomes the Lakers 25th coach and 21st since their move to Los Angeles. He inherits a team that was 27-55 in the 2013-14 season.

Terms of the contract were not released.

--City News Service