Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Q. How much was Magic freelancing the key to success of that team, the Showtime? Byron Scott: I think every opportunity that he got to kind of go off script of things that were supposed to be playing because of the way that opponents played us, it was probably 75 percent of the time. As great a coach as Pat Riley was, Magic, I still say to this day the greatest point guard I've ever seen.
Q. You said Magic was freelancing 75 percent of the time. I mean that’s… Byron Scott: He was like I said controlling everything. He controlled the game. The closest to him to me right now is the Joker (Nikola Jokic). The Joker is a guy that controls the pace, the guys that play with him understand that he is more than willing to make them better and to help them. So I think he is the closest to Magic Johnson that I've seen and I'm not going by position, just is the way his knowledge of the game and the way that he sees the game. He's probably the closest in the game today. Well, he's changing the game now. They used to say point forwards now is a point center.
Byron Scott on how he became a Laker after being drafted by the Clippers: What was their hesitation on not signing you? Byron Scott: If you hear some of the stories, Donald Sterling wanted a Laker. He wanted a Laker badly. And I think he had met with Dr. Jerry Buss at some dinner or something and they talked about some things and Norm Nixon's name was mentioned. So Sterling went back to the head guys, Pete Babcock and those guys, and said ‘I want to make this trade’. So basically the Clippers traded my draft rights to the Lakers and Swen Nater for Norm Nixon and Eddie Jordan.
Q. When did it hit you, like ‘He's different’. Byron Scott: I met Kobe Bryant at the rookie transitional program in Orlando. They gave me Kobe as one of my rookies. This rookie program that they was trying to show all these rookies how to save their money, how to invest their money and things like that, and what to watch out for in the league and all this stuff. So, I was waiting for a week before I met him on the basketball court when I came with the Lakers. So, the first month of watching him on the basketball court, I said, ‘Yeah, this kid is different.’ Cuz I never seen an 18-year-old that dedicated. And I mean he's there two hours before practice. He was there sometimes waiting on Gary Vitty to open up just so he can get dressed and go on the court and shoot.
Former Laker Byron Scott, who said he knew Campbell’s family because Scott also grew up in Inglewood and went to Morningside, said the news was painful to hear. Scott and Campbell were teammates on the Lakers when Scott returned for his final season back with L.A. in 1996-97. “I just remember his demeanor. That’s why we nicknamed him ‘Easy E,’ ” Scott told The Times. “He was just so cool, nothing speeding him up. He was going to take his time. He was just easy. He was such a good dude. I loved Easy, man.”
Advertisement
During his postgame comments, Klay Thompson referenced a video clip of Bryon Scott foreshadowing the greatness of the late Kobe Bryant. “I’m not saying he’s going to be Kobe, but I remember this clip of Byron Scott looking in the camera talking about how great Kobe’s going to be when he was 18 years old.” Thompson said. “I feel like B-Scott sometimes. The old, wise veteran that has the future of the franchise to my side. It’s pretty cool to be a part of and we’re all going to be witnesses to what Cooper Flagg is going to do for a long time.”
Q. I want you to tell us your top five all-time Lakers. Lakers, not players, but Lakers. Magic Johnson: You got to start with Cap [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]. You got to Kobe Bryant. That's easy. Them two are easy. Byron Scott: I think the first three are easy. Them two and you. You got to put yourself on. Magic Johnson: I don't really talk about myself… Byron Scott: That three is pretty damn easy, you got two more Buck. Magic Johnson: And it's now because he's here. He'll probably fit in there with, LeBron James, and then probably Shaquille O’Neal, but you got so many: Jerry West, you got Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, I mean you got so many dudes that it's hard to say these five. You almost had to say 15 or 20. No other franchise… Boston probably be right there with us, but not too many franchises can say they got like this many dudes who were All-Time greats. Jamaal Wilkes! The man was just… So many be it's so many guys that's what make us special. But I would say this: Kobe, one of my favorites. Cap, one of my favorites because nobody in this league ever has dominated like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And nobody's dominated this city. Remember this. No, this dude got more championships…. Nobody is in college did what Kareem did. Three in a row. Greatest college player in history by far. It's no second. Three straight national championship and three straight MVPs of the of the of the finals as well. The greatest to ever change basketball forever. Nobody's done what Kareem was able to do for the game, college, and the NBA. What that what he's been able to do, it's been amazing.
Gary Vitti: When you're trying to slow down, these muscles are lengthening under great tension, more tension than when you're when the muscles are shortening. When you're running in a straight line, they're shortening. Okay? Now they're lengthening on their great tension. And if they can't handle the load, wherever that load is at that moment, if that link in the kinetic chain can't handle the load, it's going to fail and that's where you're going to get hurt. Okay? And it's kind of that simple. Now, you add in the turning, torque, twisting. Hey, now you're really putting yourself in harm's way because that's how we tear ACL's. That's how we tear meniscus in your knee. You don't tear a meniscus by running in a straight line. You tear it when you plant your foot and turn. Okay. And so, so yes, it is about playing too much basketball, but probably not so much as playing so much and not having recovery time. It's playing so much that you've developed these postural and movement dysfunctional patterns.
Gary Vitti: So what we do know about the human body and this is well documented in the research is that repetitive movement causes compensation and the compensation causes dysfunction. In terms of basketball, the game is played between here and here. What we call the core. I'm going to ask you a question: Who's the player that you know that played over 20 years that was doing core work before we even talked about core and never got hurt. Byron Scott: Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Vitti: That's right. He was doing yoga. And he started talking to me. He didn't use the word core. He just said the game's played between here and I started listening to him and he's right.
Gary Vitti: So, the game is so much faster and so much more powerful. Where is all that coming from? It's coming from their hips. And it's all about the hip. So these hip flexors get really, really tight. They start to rotate your pelvis forward. That starts to really pull on your hamstring because your hamstring attaches underneath your pelvis and then crosses your knee joint. It shuts off the neural drive to your glute. So now because your glute shut off, your hamstrings doing more work that becomes prone. Your adductor muscles, which are your groin muscles, they attach underneath your pelvis. So, they're working harder. So, now it if you don't have a strong core, it's all about generating force from your lower extremity through your pelvis to your upper extremity. And we call that the kinetic chain. So, if you hit a link in the chain that can't handle the load, that's where it's going to fail.
Advertisement
Gary Vitti: “When Kobe retired in 2016, I can make an argument that he was the best player with his back to the basket in the league at the time. He would not be able to play the game the way he played it in 2016. And that was just nine years ago... The way he played it, he would have killed you a different way. All right. But he would have killed you. Okay. He would have figured it out. Okay. He would have figured out before they figured it out.”
Byron Scott: Happy 66th Birthday to the Best backcourt teammate and the greatest point guard of all time! You are my forever brother! @MagicJohnson #showtime
Happy 66th Birthday to the Best backcourt teammate and the greatest point guard of all time! You are my forever brother! @MagicJohnson #showtime pic.twitter.com/iFTekMcp8L
— Byron Scott (@official_bscott) August 15, 2025
Byron Scott: Tell us your All-Time starting five, you included, so you got to pick four, so you got to give me a point guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Mitch Richmond: I'm going to go Magic Johnson at point guard. I'm gonna put Michael Jordan at the three. The four… Damn. There’s Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley… Charles is a little undersized, but Charles was good. And you got Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett… I'mma go with Kevin Durant cuz we're spreading it out. And then I'mma go Big Shaq at center.
Olden Polynice: "I broke Bill Laimbeer's face. I was the guy who broke his face. Byron Scott: That's why he was wearing that mask. Polynice: Let me tell you something: I ain't never received more cards and flowers in my life. Byron Scott: Everybody hated Laimbeer. The office called me and was like, "Yo, you got to come get all this stuff."