Byron Scott went on the NBA's SiriusXM radio station on Thursday and confirmed that the interview with the Lakers did in fact take place.
"It is true," Scott said. "I did interview with the Lakers. I talked to Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss and had a great time talking to those guys. Obviously I go way back with Mitch — teammates for a while, and won a couple of championships together. So it was good. That's basically all I can tell you. It was good, I had a lot of fun talking to them. And hopefully we'll be taking again soon, and we'll see what happens."
Scott had played for the Lakers from 1983 to 1993. His last coaching gig was with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2010 to 2013.
Los Angeles general manager Mitch Kupchak spoke to reporters on a conference call on Wednesday, via USA Today:
"I'm sure (coaching candidate) names will come out within the next couple of days, but we have started our process and we intend to continue the process in terms of talking to potential coaches, whether they're informal or formal interviews," Kupchak said. "I would not anticipate hiring a coach in the next two to three weeks, but we'll interview several – more than three or four probably. Yes, we have begun."
Scott definately would bring some coaching experience to the Lakers as he coached the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. There are rumors going around another canditate Derek Fisher, who is currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Phil Jackson has his eyes set on possibly naming Fisher as head coach of the Knicks. On Wednesday, the Lakers interviewed Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy coached the Lakers from 1990 to 1992.
Los Angeles went 27-55 last season, and signing up to coach the team might mean waiting a while before getting back into the postseason. Scott has compiled a 416-521 coaching record over 13 seasons.
