Byron Scott Will Have His Hands Full in LA

Byron Scott was announced earlier this week as the new head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers used the announced for some positive public relations as that has been lacking of late with all the problems the franchise has had.

Former Lakers greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes showed up to honor their former Lakers teammate.

The late Dr. Jerry Buss the former owner of the club told Johnson in 2010 that his wish was to see Scott return one day to coach the Lakers. He did not live long enough to see that, but his daughter Jeanie who is running the club watched the announcement of Scott as coach from her office.

Scott was viewed by the late Buss as the perfect person to replace Phil Jackson whenever Jackson decided to step down. However, when that happened, Scott had already accepted the coaching job at Cleveland.

It was obvious the more each former teammate spoke that Scott was hired to win back fan support, as he was the most popular choice but maybe not the best available coach.

Mitch Kupchak the general manager for Los Angeles said the team knew the city would support Scott and that was important for the franchise and the players.

Scott will face many problems once the season starts and the well wishes of his being head coach have worn off.

Scott will have to live up to so many expectations that the Lakers franchise represents with its many NBA championships.

Scott said that he would do everything possible to make his former teammates proud, to make ownership proud and bring the team to the top once again where it belongs.

Scott said the bottom was that the Lakers organization was about championships and nothing else.

However, even though every Lakers fan wants another championship tomorrow, the likelihood of that happening anytime soon is remote.

Los Angeles is coming off a 27-55 season. It was the most losses the franchise has ever suffered. During the offseason the Lakers lost Jodie Meeks, Pau Gasol, Chris Kaman, Jordan Farmar, Kent Bazemore, MarShon Brooks and Kendall Marshall

Los Angeles was able to add Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer, Ed Davis, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. The club hopes veterans Kobe Bryant at 36 and Steve Nash at 40 can give the club something after missing most of last season.

The Lakers will face an uphill battle with the majority of the weight on Scott’s shoulders. The Western Conference  is loaded with talented teams were San Antonio, Oklahoma City, , Houston, Portland, Golden State, Memphis, Dallas, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Clippers all pushed 50 wins in 2013. The likelihood is all of them will do the same this season. 

If the Lakers can add 20 wins to their record from last season, they likely will still not make the postseason.

Of course, that is not the fault of Scott, as he has been handed a terrible roster, but he still must please the fan base and organization that only have championships in mind.