Byron Scott was surprised by the Los Angeles Lakers' decision to fire him and wishes he would have coached differently.
Scott wishes he would have played his veterans more to chase wins even though the Lakers were rebuilding during the final seasons of Kobe Bryant.
“If I knew this was coming, I would have played Lou [Williams], Brandon [Bass] and guys like that a whole lot more,” Scott said, referring to his veterans. “They gave me the best chance to win.”
D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle were in and out of the starting lineup.
“Young guys are young guys.” Scott said. “You hope sooner or later with all those guys that the light bulb comes on and you get that ‘aha moment’ where they can say, ‘I got it and understand what you’re talking about it. We had those moments very sparingly.”
Scott recalled the conversation he had with Mitch Kupchak when he was informed of the Lakers' decision.
“‘We’re not going to pick up your option,’” Scott recalled. “‘This is very tough. But you’ve been in this business long enough.’”
During the interview process, Scott was told the Lakers' patience would extend beyond two seasons.
“I wasn’t going to sell myself; that’s just not me. But I did bring up the fact that I thought I had at least another year with our discussions that this would be hard the first two or three years,” Scott said. “They asked if I was all right with it and I said, ‘Yeah I am. But are you guys?’ The answer back to me was, ‘Yeah, because we knew this would be tough and it would take a while.’”
