Byron Scott
 Byron Scott in 2012 as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 28, 1961 Ogden, Utah |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Morningside (Inglewood, California) |
| College | Arizona State (1979–1983) |
| NBA draft | 1983 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall |
| Selected by the San Diego Clippers | |
| Pro playing career | 1983–1998 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 4 |
| Coaching career | 1998–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1983–1993 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1993–1995 | Indiana Pacers |
| 1995–1996 | Vancouver Grizzlies |
| 1996–1997 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1997–1998 | Panathinaikos (Greece) |
| As coach: | |
| 1998–2000 | Sacramento Kings (assistant) |
| 2000–2004 | New Jersey Nets |
| 2004–2009 | New Orleans Hornets |
| 2010–2013 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
As player:
As coach: | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 15,097 (14.1 ppg) |
| Assists | 2,729 (2.5 apg) |
| Steals | 1,224 (1.1 spg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Byron Antom Scott (born March 28, 1961) is an American retired National Basketball Association player and a former head coach of the NBA's New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, and Cleveland Cavaliers.[1]
Scott grew up in Inglewood, California and played at Morningside High School, in the shadow of what was then the Lakers' home arena, The Forum. He attended Arizona State University, but left school in his junior year to sign with the then San Diego Clippers. He was an important component of the Los Angeles Lakers championship teams of the mid-to-late 1980s.
Playing career
NBA
Selected by the San Diego Clippers with the 4th pick of the 1983 NBA Draft, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983 in exchange for Norm Nixon. During his playing career, Scott suited up for the Lakers, Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies. Scott was a key player for the Lakers during the Showtime era, being a starter alongside Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He played for the Lakers for 10 consecutive seasons (1983–1993). During that time he was on three NBA championship teams (1985, 1987, 1988). As a rookie, he was a member of
the 1984 all-rookie team, averaging 10.6 PPG in 22 MPG. He led the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.433) in 1984-85. 1987-88 was his best season, leading the NBA champions Lakers in scoring, averaging a career-best 21.7 ppg, and in steals (1.91 spg). Although he was an excellent player and an integral part of one of the greatest teams in NBA history, Byron Scott was never selected to play in the NBA All-Star game. He was the Lakers' starting shooting guard from 1984 until 1993. In 1996-97, the last year of Scott's playing career in the NBA, he went back to the Lakers and proved to be a valuable mentor for a team featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and 18-year old rookie Kobe Bryant.
Panathinaikos
In the summer of 1997, Scott signed with the Greek Basket League team Panathinaikos for the 1997-1998 season. That season, he played with Panathinaikos in both the FIBA Saporta Cup (known then as the FIBA EuroCup), Europe's second-tier level competition after the Euroleague, and the Greek Basket League. In the Saporta Cup's 1997-1998 season, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.[2]
Scott helped to lead his team to the Greek Basket League championship with his scoring in many crucial games. After one season with the Greek Basket League champions, Scott retired from playing professional basketball, and began his coaching career.
Coaching career
Byron Scott began his NBA coaching career in 1998, when he began the first of two seasons as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. He specialized in teaching perimeter shooting during his tenure with the Kings and helped to lead the team to an excellent three-point shooting percentage during a pair of playoff seasons.
New Jersey
In 2000, Scott took over a struggling New Jersey Nets team. His team performed poorly in his first year, but that changed in the 2001-02 season with the arrival of Jason Kidd as the Nets raced to a franchise record of 52 wins. In the process, they won their first Atlantic division crown and appeared in their first NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite losing the championship series to LA, Scott came back to coach the team through another successful season during the 2002-03 campaign, once again taking the team to the NBA Finals, but losing once again—this time to the San Antonio Spurs. New Jersey was up by double figures in game six, but the Spurs tightened up their defense, which won the game and the championship.
Scott was fired during the 2003–04 season, as New Jersey had a disappointing 22–20 record coming into the All-Star break, even though they were leading their division at the time of his dismissal. Rumors of a rift between Scott and Kidd circulated media outlets, with sources allegedly claiming that Kidd wanted Scott out of Jersey. All the parties, including then Nets GM Rod Thorn, denied the reports. Scott claimed that he was "very surprised" by the report and that he and Kidd "always got along".[3]
He was succeeded by his assistant Lawrence Frank.
While coaching the Nets, Scott lived in Livingston, New Jersey.[4]
New Orleans
Scott became the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets in 2004. In the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, he guided the team to a pair of sub .500 seasons. One obstacle was that the team played most of its home games in Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans.
In the 2007–08 season, Scott had his first winning season as the Hornets head coach. They had a winning percentage of .683 with a record of 56–26. They became Southwest Division champions and finished 2nd overall in the Western Conference. The Hornets clinched the Southwest Division title in their win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Byron Scott was named the head coach of the 2008 Western Conference All-Star team, and a few months after, he was awarded the 2007–2008 NBA coach of the year award. Due to his success the Hornets awarded Scott with a two-year extension.
The Hornets had a 30–11 home record and a 26–15 road record and clinched the second seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Hornets won their first round series against the Dallas Mavericks, posting a 4–1 record for the series. They would go on to face the defending Champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. An unusual trend of home court blow outs would mark the series until the deciding game 7 when the veteran Spurs would pull out a 91–82 win on the Hornets rowdy home court. The win marked the 100th playoff victory for Spurs coach Greg Popovich.
In the 2008-09, the Hornets finished 49-33 and entered the playoffs as a seventh seed. They faced the Denver Nuggets in the first round losing after five brutal games, including 21 and 29-point blowouts, as well as a 58-point loss in game 4, which tied the worst margin of defeat in NBA postseason history.[5][6](see:2009 NBA playoffs article for more information)
Scott was relieved from his head coaching duties for the Hornets on November 12, 2009, following a 3-6 start.[7] He had been mentioned as a candidate for several NBA coaching jobs, including the Chicago Bulls, due to his success coaching another young star point guard Chris Paul.
Following his dismissal, he briefly served as a studio analyst for the NBA on ESPN.
Cleveland Cavaliers
On July 2, 2010, Scott was named head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a few days before the team lost star LeBron James to the Miami Heat.[8][9] During his first season at the helm of the Cavs, he watched his team endure the longest losing streak ever in the NBA. The 26-game, record-breaking, losing streak ended on February 11, 2011 when they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime at home. The Cavaliers ended up finishing the season with a 19-63 record which was the second worst record in the NBA, only ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, like his tenure in New Orleans, he was soon blessed with coaching another Rookie of the Year point guard, this time in Kyrie Irving, whom the Cavaliers selected first overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. His second season in Cleveland saw them improve to 21 victories in a shortened 66-game schedule. On October 27, 2012, it was reported that the Cavaliers had picked up the option on his contract for the 2013–14 NBA season.[9]
On April 18, 2013, Scott was fired by Cleveland Cavaliers management.[10]
Personal life
Scott's non-profit organization, The Byron Scott Children’s Fund, has raised more than $15 million over the past decade, with the proceeds going to various children’s charities.[11] Scott has recently served as a studio analyst for ABC's NBA telecasts and was featured on ESPN.
Scott and his wife, Anita, have three children, Thomas, LonDen and DaRon.[12]
Coaching record
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | |
| Post season | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win-loss % | |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 2000–01 | 82 | 26 | 56 | .317 | 6th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| New Jersey | 2001–02 | 82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 1st in Atlantic | 20 | 11 | 9 | .550 | Lost in NBA Finals |
| New Jersey | 2002–03 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 1st in Atlantic | 20 | 14 | 6 | .700 | Lost in NBA Finals |
| New Jersey | 2003–04 | 42 | 22 | 20 | .524 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Orleans | 2004–05 | 82 | 18 | 64 | .220 | 5th in Southwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 2005–06 | 82 | 38 | 44 | .463 | 4th in Southwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 2006–07 | 82 | 39 | 43 | .476 | 4th in Southwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 2007–08 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 1st in Southwest | 12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | Lost in Conf. Semifinals |
| New Orleans | 2008–09 | 82 | 49 | 33 | .598 | 4th in Southwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in First Round |
| New Orleans | 2009–10 | 9 | 3 | 6 | .333 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cleveland | 2010–11 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | 5th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Cleveland | 2011–12 | 66 | 21 | 45 | .318 | 5th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Cleveland | 2012–13 | 82 | 24 | 58 | .293 | 5th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 937 | 416 | 521 | .444 | 57 | 33 | 24 | .579 |
See also
References
- ↑ Agent: Byron Scott, Cavs Agree to Terms
- ↑ FIBAEurope.com Byron Anton Scott (PANATHINAIKOS BSA ATHENS).
- ↑ Thorn said no demands were ever made - espnW
- ↑ Bondy, Filip. "VISITORS ARE FEELING RIGHT AT HOME IN JERSEY", Daily News (New York), May 25, 2003. Accessed February 24, 2011. "'I've learned everything I need to know about New Jersey,' said Scott, who resides in Livingston during the season. 'You take 280 to the 'Pike to the arena.'"
- ↑ Game 4 scoreboard
- ↑ Game 4 Recap
- ↑ "New Orleans Hornets fire coach Byron Scott". usatoday.com. November 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ "Agent says Scott accepts Cavs offer". cbssports.com. July 2, 2010. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cleveland Cavaliers exercise contract option on Byron Scott - NBA - Sporting News
- ↑ Cleveland Cavaliers fire coach Byron Scott
- ↑ http://officialbyronscott.com/
- ↑ http://www.sportsstarsusa.com/Byron-Scott
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Byron Scott. |
- Byron Scott coach biography at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2010) at NBA.com
- Byron Scott player biography at the Wayback Machine (archived January 17, 2001) at NBA.com
- Byron Scott career highs and selected season stats at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2004) at NBA.com
- Byron Scott historical playerfile at NBA.com
- Scott's statistics as a player
- Scott's statistics as a coach
- Scott's FIBA EuroCup profile
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