NBA NEWS

Lakers announce hiring of Scott

The Sports Xchange

July 28, 2014 at 7:45 pm.

"After an extensive and thorough search, we're proud to welcome Byron back to the Lakers family as our next head coach," said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak. Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Monday that they signed Byron Scott to a multi-year contract to be their head coach.

ESPN reported Saturday that the Lakers and Scott agreed on a four-year, $17 million deal, and Scott said in a television interview over the weekend that he was the new Lakers coach. But the Lakers said then that a deal had not yet been finalized.

It finally became official Monday.

“After an extensive and thorough search, we’re proud to welcome Byron back to the Lakers family as our next head coach,” said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak in a statement released by the team. “Byron has proven himself at the highest levels of the game as both a player and a coach in his almost 30 years of NBA experience. His leadership skills and track record for success make him the ideal person to lead this franchise forward.”

Scott, who spent 11 of his 14 years as an NBA player with the Lakers, has 416 wins over 13 seasons as an NBA head coach with the New Jersey Nets (2000-2004), New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2004-2009) and Cleveland Cavaliers (2010-2013). Scott began his coaching career as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings for two seasons beginning in 1998. He was the NBA coach of the year in 2008.

“I am ecstatic to once again be a Laker and to have the opportunity to work alongside Mitch and the Buss family,” said Scott in a statement. “I know first-hand what it takes to bring a championship to this city, and as someone who both grew up in L.A. and played the majority of my career here, I know how passionate and dedicated our fans are. I will give everything I have to fulfill the championship expectations that our supporters have for us, and that we have for ourselves.”

Scott, 53, was an on-air talent for a variety of studio programming last season, his only full season away from the game as a coach or player since he entered the NBA in 1983.

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