The Los Angeles Lakers have lost four consecutive games in blowout fashion to bring their record down to 2-12 which makes them the worst team in the Western Conference. Things don't seem to be getting much better any time soon in L.A. so naturally the attention turns over to the head coach to see if a change might be made but right now it doesn't seem as though Byron Scott is on the hot seat, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
It would be one thing if the Lakers were losing just because they have less talent than other teams, and while they are limited in the talent department, but there have still been plenty of complaints about Scott's coaching this season. Despite the complaints Scott still feels that he, general manager Mitch Kupchak and vice president of basketball personnel Jim Buss are on the same page.
"We still understand that this is a process. We have a lot of young guys on this team that we feel will be very good players. But it's not going to happen in a month. It's going to take some time. It might take a year or two. I've told him what I'm thinking about doing at times, some of the things I want to do with the young guys and some of the things I want to do with some of our veteran guys, but as far as the coaching part, he hasn't talked about making changes," said Scott.
The Lakers aren't exactly known for their patience with losing but they also understand that they are in the middle of a rebuilding process so it is unfair to expect too much from this team. Scott is also in the second year of a four year $17 million contract with the Lakers so that is also likely a factor in not wanting to fire him just yet.
Even though the Lakers are rebuiliding Scott hasn't done a great job of coaching this season and has infurtiated Lakers fans on several occasions. He went through a phase early in the season where he refused to play prized rookie D'Angelo Russell in the fourth quarter which had fans unhappy. Scott has since played Russell in the fourth quarter more.
There is also the current Kobe Bryant situation where Scott has said that he does not intend to lessen his minutes despite the fact that he is making just 31 percent of his field goals. Bryant is the leading scorer on the team but he has been incredibly inefficient and has not made his teammates better this season. It is hard to fault Scott for not reducing a legends minutes but it may be what is best for the team.
For now Scott seems likely to finish the year out as the Lakers head coach but if things don't get better it is hard to imagine him being back next year. Scott feels safe right now but in order to be really safe he better hope his team starts to play a lot better than they have so far this season.
