Byron Scott grew up 14 blocks from the Kia Forum in Inglewood. His alma mater, Morningside High School, is located less than two miles from the venerable sports arena.
Scott has admitted to slipping past security guards at the venue, then known simply as the Forum, to watch the Lakers play their home games during those days. He imagined himself playing on its floor someday as a Laker.
It wasn’t a pipe dream, even then. Scott was born on March 28, 1961, in Ogden, Utah. His father, Allen Holmes, had NBA-level skills. He played basketball for the University of Utah, until a leg injury he sustained in a car accident ended his career.
Scott moved to California with his mother, Dorothy Scott, while in the third grade. She would become one of his biggest supporters. He attended Woodworth Elementary School on 104th St., which is adjacent to Morningside High. His next stop, Monroe Middle School, is also part of the same complex.
Even during his formative years, Scott’s size and his skill on the court were becoming increasingly apparent. By ninth grade, he’d reached nearly six feet. A year later, he dunked a basketball for the first time.
Scott went on to attend nearby Morningside, where he played basketball for Carl Franklin. The diminutive Franklin would become a high school coaching legend, winning two CIF titles and one state championship with the Monarchs during a tenure that stretched from 1976 to 2005.
Scott blossomed under Franklin’s tutelage. He was named South Bay Player of the Year by both the Daily Breeze and the Los Angeles Times in 1979, as well as making the national McDonald’s High School All-America team.
After sifting through offers, Scott chose to play for Arizona State. He became a first-rate shooting guard for the Sun Devils, and topped the school’s all-time scoring list until 1994. ASU retired his number 11 in 2011.
In 1983, Scott declared himself for the NBA draft under the NCAA’s hardship rule. The San Diego Clippers selected him with the fourth pick overall, after Ralph Sampson, Steve Stipanovich and Rodney McCray. (The Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984.)
A couple of weeks before the 1983-84 NBA season began, Scott was traded to the Lakers. Veteran Laker point guard Norm Nixon, a fan favorite, went to the Clippers. It was not a popular trade at first.
Scott had to prove himself to his new teammates as well as to fans. He wasn’t as flashy or gregarious as Nixon had been. But his quiet determination along with his skillful team play eventually won over the team and its followers, and he became a key component of the Showtime-era Lakers.
What followed was a brilliant 10-year stint with the team. He made the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1984. The team won three NBA championships, in 1985, 1987 and 1988.
After the Lakers released him in 1993, Scott played for the Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies before returning to the Lakers for his final NBA season in 1996-97. He played one more year of pro ball in Greece for Panathinaikos before retiring as a player in 1998.
The second phase of Scott’s basketball career came about when others in the league began noticing his ability to mentor younger players, as he did when helping a young Reggie Miller develop while both were with the Indiana Pacers.
To that end, Sacramento Kings head coach Rick Adelman offered Scott a job as an assistant in 1998. After two years, Scott got his first job as an NBA head coach with the struggling New Jersey Nets. Scott led them to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, but the team lost both times and he fell out of favor.
He went on to helm the New Orleans Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, taking over the latter squad shortly before LeBron James left to join the Miami Heat. They were tough years for Scott as a coach. The Hornets were uprooted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Scott’s ability to hold the nomadic team together resulted in his receiving the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2008.
But his return as coach of the Lakers from 2014-16 proved to be even more trying. The rebuilding team couldn’t match the results of the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant juggernaut of the oughts, going 38-126 with Scott as coach. Bryant retired in 2016.
In August 2017, Scott told a TMZ reporter that he had retired from coaching, and was devoting his time to being an ESPN television analyst. That same year saw the publication of the motivational business leadership book he co-authored with executive Charlie Norris, Slam-Dunk Success: Leading from Every Position on Life’s Court (Center Street, 2017).
He later fulfilled a promise to his mother by returning to Arizona State to finish his studies and receive his undergraduate degree in liberal studes in 2020, 37 years after he left early for the 1983 NBA Draft
Now 62, Scott remains retired from coaching and lives in Granada Hills. He stays active in community work through his charitable foundation the Byron Scott Children’s Fund, and also has completed two seasons of his “Off the Dribble” podcast.
Sources:
Daily Breeze archives.
Los Angeles Sentinel archives.
Los Angeles Times archives.
“1983 NBA Draft,” Basketball Reference website.
Wikipedia.
