The Los Angeles Lakers have reached an agreement with Byron Scott to become the team's head coach, according to ESPN.com.
Scott's contract will pay him $17 million over four years. He later confirmed the deal on a Los Angeles television station.
"It feels fantastic," Scott told KCBS-TV. "This is a dream come true. I always wanted to coach the Lakers, especially when I got to coaching. It's so unreal. I have to thank [general manager] Mitch [Kupchak], Jeanie and Jim Buss to give me this opportunity."
Scott, 53, was a three-time NBA champion with the Lakers during their triumphant 'Showtime' era in the 1980s and has worked as a head coach in the league for 13 years, most recently with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The #Lakers have the right man for coach in Byron Scott. And the #Shootaround explains why. https://t.co/MFt7EB3h6T pic.twitter.com/BAaVko2PnT
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) July 27, 2014
He was fired by the Cavaliers on April 18, 2013 after compiling a record of 64-166 during his three seasons in charge, and has since worked as an analyst for the Lakers' television broadcast partner, TWC SportsNet.
Scott, the NBA's coach of the year in 2008 after his first winning season as head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, has been given a ringing endorsement by standout Lakers player Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion.
The pair played together in Los Angeles during the 1996-97 season when Bryant made his debut in the league, and he described Scott as a "rookie mentor" who made him fetch donuts and run various other errands.
"We've had a tremendously close relationship over the years," Bryant told reporters earlier this month. "Obviously I know him extremely well, he knows me extremely well and I've always been a fan of his."
Scott, who coached the New Jersey Nets to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, fills the gap left by former head coach Mike D'Antoni, who ended an unhappy two-season tenure when he resigned in late April.
<script src="https://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:11270352"></script>
D'Antoni still had a year to run on his $12 million, three-year contract but the team announced that he had decided to step down after compiling a 67-87 record.
The Lakers, who clinched their most recent NBA championship title in 2010, limped into the playoffs in D'Antoni's first year but finished the 2013-14 season with a dismal 27-55 record, the worst 82-game return in team history.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
