The Los Angeles Lakers are nothing if not consistent, consistently bad that is, at least this season. The Lakers continue to have the worst record in the Western Conference this season, and they are close to being caught by the 76ers for worst record in the league. The Lakers are currently on a 10-game losing streak, and that might be bad news for head coach Byron Scott, as the last two-plus months of the season are expected to have a big impact on his future with the team, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
These last two and a half months are expected to be crucial to Scott's future with the Lakers, as they will reportedly be a trial run for him. Scott is still under contract through next year, and the team has a club option on him for the following year. Regardless of that, though, if he doesn't have some sort of success or the team doesn't show some sort of growth, he likely won't be retained beyond this season. Scott is fully expected to finish this season out as the head man and he will be tasked with trying to make this team more competitive.
Scott has been the head coach of the Lakers for a little more than a year now, and so far his tenure has not brought very much success. In his first season with the team the Lakers won just 21 games, and so far this season they are on pace for even fewer wins. This season more than any other for Scott has been tough because he has a lot of young, inexperienced players, and he has been criticized for how he is handling them.
One of the main criticisms against Scott this season has been the fact that he has been too hard on some of the young players. Scott acknowledges he has been hard on them but also says he doesn't plan to stop despite what the critics say and the fact that his job is on the line. Scott has also been criticized for the way he has handled D'Angelo Russell all season, and recently the Los Angeles Clippers broadcasters questioned the use of the rookie during their game against one another, according to Bill Oram of The Orange County Register.
There is no doubt that some of the criticism against Scott has been warranted, but it also must be noted that he has been put in a near impossible situation this season. Scott has had to manage Kobe Bryant's final NBA season while also trying to develop young players and win as many games as possible. He certainly could be doing things differently, but the fact that he is sticking to his guns is commendable, and if he goes out, which seems very likely, he will at least go out his way.
