Byron Scott says he can't see Kobe Bryant playing for any team but Lakers
HONOLULU – In between the two-a-days, coaches meetings and other basketball-centric activities that Byron Scott has been focused on during this 10-day Hawaiian training camp, the Lakers coach (who has made it clear that he’s not much for luaus, hula dancing or swimming) took a few minutes to chat with USA TODAY Sports.
The entire interview can be heard on our latest “A to Z” podcast, but below are his quick takes on a few topical matters relating to his team and others around the Association. Scott is always an honest and insightful interview as I see it, perhaps because he’s a hybrid of sorts between experienced coach (three head coaching jobs in 14 seasons) and media empathizer (after all, he has been a television analyst for ABC/ESPN and Time Warner Cable SportsNet).
NBA A to Z podcast: Kobe returns to Lakers
Byron on whether he could ever see Kobe Bryant playing for another NBA team (After New York Knicks’ president Phil Jackson raised the possibility, Bryant – who will be a free agent next summer and isn’t sure yet whether he’ll retire – told Yahoo! Sports that he has no interest in playing for any NBA team other than the Lakers).
“I can't see it. I mean I can't see it. I really can't," he said. "I think just like Magic Johnson, even MJ (Michael Jordan), who went to Washington (after two years out of the game at the age of 37), but still when you think of MJ you think of the Chicago Bulls. When I think of Kobe, I don't care what happens, I think everybody will always think of him as a Laker and one of the greatest Lakers to ever play the game.”
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Byron on the storylines that he sees as the most compelling entering the 2015-16 season
Phil Jackson on Kobe: 'I don't think this is his last year. Might be his last year as a Laker.'
“I think San Antonio, that storyline of getting LaMarcus (Aldridge) and David West (via free agency) and some of those guys, they have kind of reloaded and it's almost like for that one more last hurrah to see if they can pull it off one more year.
“Another storyline that I think is going to be very interesting is Golden State. When a coach goes out for a length of time (Steve Kerr is out indefinitely because of back problem), and I don't think anybody knows what that length of time is going to be, obviously he had a hell of an effect with those guys on that team. And not to have him for the start of the season and maybe half the season, you never know what it's going to be right now with the back. I think that's a very interesting storyline.
“Now they kind of sustained their first injury, so to speak, so you kind of wonder how they're going to react to not having their leader there. I think the Clippers are an interesting story, with the crap that went on this summer with DeAndre and, you know, wanting the ball more and all this stuff, it's going to be interesting how that all kind of (plays out).”
Steve Kerr is taking a leave of absence to continue rehab on his back
On the Lakers-driven talk that they could push for a playoff spot in the brutal Western Conference…
“Best case scenario is definitely playoffs. We go into every season thinking championship, and sometimes I know that might be unrealistic, but that's just how we think. And when I say 'we,' it's me and (general manager) Mitch (Kupchak) and (part owner and executive vice president of basketball operations) Jim (Buss) and (part owner and president) Jeanie (Buss) and Kobe. That's how we kind of go into every season. These young guys, they don't know all about that right now. But I think yeah, realistically, do we think we have a shot at the playoffs? Absolutely. What do we have to do to get there? We've got to have some guys play some big-time basketball this year, and that happens to be some of our young guys, and then we have to be a little lucky. We have to stay healthy. And if we can do that, then we'll see what happens.”