Byron Scott interviewed with the Lakers for a second time today, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Scott is the only candidate to receive a second interview to this point. Scott had expressed enthusiasm and optimism about his chances to land the job following his first discussions with Los Angeles.
Scott’s progression in the interview process isn’t necessarily a sign that he’s significantly closer to landing the job. After the Lakers planned to “make a splash” with a big name hire soon after Mike D’Antoni‘s resignation, they have shown a commitment to taking a patient approach in the hiring process. The Lakers are in no rush to select their next coach, and a report from yesterday suggests they could wait until after they pursue marquee free agents in the offseason to move forward with a hire.
Scott is a well known, popular coaching veteran as evidenced by our reader poll that ranked him as the second best coaching prospect for Los Angeles. Scott guided the Nets to two Finals appearances early in his coaching career and took New Orleans into the playoffs in consecutive seasons later in his career, but still sports a 416-521 overall coaching record thanks to losing seasons every other year. Scott’s Cavs teams never produced more than 24 wins in his most recent three-year stint as an NBA coach.