Byron Scott has 1st words ready for Lakers: 'I want to win a championship'
Player, coach, general manager: for everyone around the game of basketball, the goal likely is and always should be the NBA championship.
New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott knows "firsthand what it takes to bring a championship to this city," and apparently isn't exercising realism when it comes to his goals for the 2014-15 season.
"I’m going to walk into our locker room the first day of our meeting and say, ‘I want to win a championship,'" Scott told the Los Angeles Daily News on Tuesday.
"I don’t want us thinking it’s fine if we just make the playoffs or think we have no shot at making the playoffs. I don’t believe that. I want our guys to have the same mindset as I do."
That's going to be a tall order for Scott and the Lakers, even if Kobe Bryant were to return from two major leg injuries to be peak Mamba, rather than the 36-year-old he actually is. The Lakers were 27-55 last season, and while Bryant and Steve Nash may be healthier and the team has added Jeremy Lin, Julius Randle and Carlos Boozer, this doesn't look at all like a championship-caliber roster.
Current bookmaker odds have the Lakers as a 66-to-1 longshot to win the title and a 33-to-1 proposition to win the Western Conference, while the over-under for their win total sits at just 33.5.
Still, credit Scott for trying to instill a culture of winning from the minute he walks in the door. There's no harm in it, so long as everyone remains realistic while they aim to be the best damn Lakers they can be.
[Dap EOB]