Photos by Steve Galluzzo
Former LA Lakers Guard Byron Scott Gives Motivational Talk to Marquez Elementary Students
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Students and parents showed up wearing purple and gold last Friday at Marquez Elementary School, where former Los Angeles Lakers player and coach Byron Scott was the honored guest and speaker and shared what it takes to be a winner and a champion with his attentive audience in the auditorium.
After a brief introduction by Principal Dr. LaTanya Reeves, the lights were dimmed and a five-minute video was shown highlighting Scott’s career—in particular a revealing conversation he had with NBA rookie and then Pacific Palisades resident Kobe Bryant. Following the recap, Dr. Nima Mashkouri, a Marquez dad who is also Scott’s dentist and friend, ushered in the Showtime era shooting guard who first talked to the school’s TK through 4th-graders, followed by the graduating 5th-graders, about how to succeed in sports and life.
“I played with Kobe his rookie year and he was my rookie,” Scott said. “When you’re a veteran you get to pick who you want to go get your water, your food, whatever. Everything you want him to do he has to do. Well I picked Kobe as my rookie and I had him do none of that stuff. What I did have him do is sit next to me on the bench, during timeouts and on the bus so we could watch the game and talk about it. He was a sponge, he asked a lot of questions. He was all about being better today than yesterday. His whole idea was get up at 4 in the morning, work out from 6 to 8, get something to eat, practice from 10-12, eat lunch and go to the gym at Palisades High and shoot more. His thinking was ‘I’m going to work out three times to your one, so after three years you know how much further along will I be?’ He was determined to be one of the best and it was an honor to coach Kobe his last two years. It brought us back together.”
Scott was a shooting guard during the Lakers’ dynasty in the 1980s, starting alongside Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy. He grew up 14 blocks from the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood (then the Lakers’ home arena) and donned the purple and gold for 10 straight seasons, winning three NBA titles and making six trips to the finals. He led the league in three-point field goal percentage in 1985 and paced the Lakers’ 1987-88 championship squad in scoring and steals. In 1996, he returned to the Lakers (who were led by center Shaquille O’Neal) and took the 18-year-old rookie Bryant under his wing. As an NBA head coach from 2000-2016, Scott piloted the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals two years in a row (2002 and 2003), was voted Coach of the Year in 2008 with the New Orleans Hornets, and was twice an NBA All-Star Game head coach (in 2002 and 2008). He was Bryant’s last Lakers coach from 2014-16.
“NBA life expectancy is four years, so if you enter the league at 22 then by the time you’re 26 there’s a good chance you’re no longer in the league,” said the 62-year-old, who lives in the San Fernando Valley. “I told my mom and dad when I was 12 years old that I wanted to be a professional basketball player. Athletics was in my soul, my body and my spirit. It’s what I wanted to do, but my dad asked me ‘what if you don’t make it? You’d better get your education!’ Well, I played at Arizona State and decided to leave school early. My mom and dad weren’t very happy at the time. I kept putting it off until my mom was dying of cancer and she said ‘you promised me you’d go back and get your college degree.’ I was 50 something years old when I finally got it. I don’t want any of you to wait that long.”
Emphasizing the importance of a high school diploma and a college degree, Scott continued: “How many of you want to be in the NBA or WNBA? Well, you have a better chance to be President of the United States than being in the NBA. See, only 450 players make it on a roster every year. The odds are against us. So what if you get cut? What if you get injured? What are you going to do with the rest of your life? If you go to school to be a doctor or lawyer chances are it’ll be a much longer career. Focus on the straight and narrow road. Get your degree because that piece of paper will take you a lot farther than a basketball ever will. Have a positive attitude in life and sports and realize that you’re going to fail sometimes. Everyone in this room is going to get knocked down. Don’t be shocked. It’ll make you stronger and tougher. Listen to your parents and to your teachers, because they’ve all been where you are.”
Once his speech was over Scott took questions—most of which were about his playing days. Asked what made the 80s Lakers so special, he answered: “We had a bunch of guys that hated to lose and when we did lose we wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. We wanted to leave a mark. We wanted to win and we played for each other. Defend, rebound and run—that’s what Pat Riley drilled into us everyday. Our practices were harder than the games. I played 14 years and I can honestly say getting there was easy, staying there was the hard part. I kept myself in great shape. I’d run everyday during my workout to get ready for training camp. One night it was pouring rain. I looked outside and said I’m going to give it 30 minutes and see if it subsides a little so I can get my five miles in. It didn’t but I ran anyway and came back all soaked. I was dripping on the porch and my wife asked me ‘why would you do such a thing?’ My answer was simple: because there’s a 6-4 guy in Florida somewhere who’s working out right now in the sunshine and I cannot allow him to get an edge on me. Talent is God given, but I refuse to let anyone outwork me. Certain things you can control. Talent isn’t one of them, but your effort is!”
Scott was drafted in 1983 and played for the Lakers (1983-93), the Indiana Pacers (1993-95), the Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-96) and the Lakers again in 1996-97 before retiring in 1998 after one season with Panathinaikos in Greece. He is not a particularly big fan of how the sport has evolved from an inside-out game to more of an outside-in style, where most possessions end on a dunk, layup or a three-point basket. If he were playing today, he thinks he might average 25 to 30 points, as three-point shooting was his forte.
“My biggest triumph definitely was beating Boston in six games in my second year,” Scott recalled. “The Lakers had never defeated the Celtics in a seven-game series and to clinch it on their home floor made it that much more satisfying. For our team it was really win or bust. We weren’t satisfied with conference titles or getting to the finals. Anything short of a championship wasn’t good enough. Being swept by Detroit in 1989 was our biggest failure. We were poised to win three [titles] in a row but I tore my hamstring and Magic pulled his hamstring and that was it. I’m often asked who I most enjoyed playing with and I’d have to say Magic, because he passed me the ball!”
Afterwards, students lined up on stage to receive autographed basketballs and to shake Scott’s hand. Then, Principal Reeves presented the honored guest with a purple and gold flower bouquet and a box full of Marquez merch: a water bottle, a Seagulls jersey with the No. 4 and “Scott” on the back, a blue Seagulls sweater, thank you letters from students and a glass trophy with the inscription: “You are the best motivational speaker for 2023.”
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