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Former NBA Coach of the Year and Los Angeles native Byron Scott was a key player who helped the Lakers win three titles during the franchise's 1980s "Showtime" era.
Scott played for the Arizona State Sun Devils before the Lakers acquired him during the 1983 draft.
Scott spoke with The Arizona Republic about his pursuit of the recent ASU men's basketball coach vacancy, the Final Four, the highly touted 2026 NBA Draft class, the Phoenix Suns and more.
On ASU hiring Randy Bennett, why Scott wanted to replace Bobby Hurleyas men's basketball coach.
"Nothing but respect for Randy and what he's done at Saint Mary's, so I think they did a good job of getting a really good, qualified person. For me, I just felt that I would be great in the situation, being able to come back to my alma mater and try to bring the program back to prominence. ... It's more of a pro style now anyway. It's more like the NBA. There's no rules. You got NIL and all this other stuff. I thought it would be a real good fit for me."
Scott's Final Four picks, his Sun Devils spirit favors Michigan over Arizona.
"I had Duke, Arizona, Michigan and I think I had Louisville or St. Johns, maybe Iowa State. I think the Arizona-Michigan game, that's almost like a national title game. ... Michigan is scoring at a high clip in the NCAA Tournament, averaging over 90 points per game. Arizona can get it done on both ends of the floor. At this time of year, you just can't have a bad game. These teams right now are geared to have one of these epic classic matches when you talk about Arizona and Michigan. Then you talk about UConn and Illinois, I don't think a whole lot of people thought Illinois would be there, but if you watch them play, Illinois is a good basketball team. And we know how good UConn can be ... the way they beat Duke with that last-second shot (in the Elite Eight). It's going to be very exciting. I can't go with Arizona (laughs). One of my guys, Dave Miller (ex-ASU assistant coach who was on Scott's New Orleans Hornets staff), has a son, David Miller, who's a U of A assistant coach, so of course, he's picking Arizona to win it all, and I said I can't do it. I had Duke winning it all, so now I gotta go with Michigan."
On Suns possibly matched up against Spurs or defending champion Thunder in 2026 NBA playoffs.
"Those are the two teams they wouldn't want to play in the first round. They're playing well right now, but a healthy Suns team against those two teams who are healthy as well, I think it might go six games at the most. But anybody else that they match up with in the first round, they're going to be a problem with. They're that talented. They're that scary. Devin Booker's a star. I've been a big Devin Booker fan for a long time. They just have so many good weapons. I don't think San Antonio and OKC are scared of anybody in the Western Conference, but the Phoenix Suns are not a team from (Western Conference seed) three down that anybody else wants to face in the first round."
Scott wants Celtics great, former Lakers rival Larry Bird on his “Fast Break” podcast.
"He's such a legend and he's so quiet. You don't hear about him doing a whole lot of stuff but I would love to get Larry Legend on the podcast in person. He was such an unbelievable player. He doesn't get enough respect nowadays through his way about how great he was. I've heard some of these young fellows talk about he couldn't play in today's game. I'm like, 'Y'all are out of your damn mind. Y'all don't understand how great he was.'"
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU legend Byron Scott on Randy Bennett hire, Final Four, Suns
Continue reading...
Scott played for the Arizona State Sun Devils before the Lakers acquired him during the 1983 draft.
Scott spoke with The Arizona Republic about his pursuit of the recent ASU men's basketball coach vacancy, the Final Four, the highly touted 2026 NBA Draft class, the Phoenix Suns and more.
On ASU hiring Randy Bennett, why Scott wanted to replace Bobby Hurleyas men's basketball coach.
"Nothing but respect for Randy and what he's done at Saint Mary's, so I think they did a good job of getting a really good, qualified person. For me, I just felt that I would be great in the situation, being able to come back to my alma mater and try to bring the program back to prominence. ... It's more of a pro style now anyway. It's more like the NBA. There's no rules. You got NIL and all this other stuff. I thought it would be a real good fit for me."
Scott's Final Four picks, his Sun Devils spirit favors Michigan over Arizona.
"I had Duke, Arizona, Michigan and I think I had Louisville or St. Johns, maybe Iowa State. I think the Arizona-Michigan game, that's almost like a national title game. ... Michigan is scoring at a high clip in the NCAA Tournament, averaging over 90 points per game. Arizona can get it done on both ends of the floor. At this time of year, you just can't have a bad game. These teams right now are geared to have one of these epic classic matches when you talk about Arizona and Michigan. Then you talk about UConn and Illinois, I don't think a whole lot of people thought Illinois would be there, but if you watch them play, Illinois is a good basketball team. And we know how good UConn can be ... the way they beat Duke with that last-second shot (in the Elite Eight). It's going to be very exciting. I can't go with Arizona (laughs). One of my guys, Dave Miller (ex-ASU assistant coach who was on Scott's New Orleans Hornets staff), has a son, David Miller, who's a U of A assistant coach, so of course, he's picking Arizona to win it all, and I said I can't do it. I had Duke winning it all, so now I gotta go with Michigan."
On Suns possibly matched up against Spurs or defending champion Thunder in 2026 NBA playoffs.
"Those are the two teams they wouldn't want to play in the first round. They're playing well right now, but a healthy Suns team against those two teams who are healthy as well, I think it might go six games at the most. But anybody else that they match up with in the first round, they're going to be a problem with. They're that talented. They're that scary. Devin Booker's a star. I've been a big Devin Booker fan for a long time. They just have so many good weapons. I don't think San Antonio and OKC are scared of anybody in the Western Conference, but the Phoenix Suns are not a team from (Western Conference seed) three down that anybody else wants to face in the first round."
Scott wants Celtics great, former Lakers rival Larry Bird on his “Fast Break” podcast.
"He's such a legend and he's so quiet. You don't hear about him doing a whole lot of stuff but I would love to get Larry Legend on the podcast in person. He was such an unbelievable player. He doesn't get enough respect nowadays through his way about how great he was. I've heard some of these young fellows talk about he couldn't play in today's game. I'm like, 'Y'all are out of your damn mind. Y'all don't understand how great he was.'"
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU legend Byron Scott on Randy Bennett hire, Final Four, Suns
Continue reading...
