Photo Credit: Danny Moloshok/AP

Byron Scott Says Players Should Advocate For Black Coaches Like Kobe Bryant Did

Stephen A. Smith recently made headlines because of his controversial reaction to the signing of two-time MVP Steve Nash as Brooklyn Nets’ new head coach, pointing out that ‘white privilege’ played a role in that decision. While Smith received a ton of negative reactions, the ESPN host isn’t the only one who feels that way.

Former Lakers coach Byron Scott is also on the same board as Stephen A. While he stated that he likes and respects Nash, Scott was disappointed when he found out that Nash got the job instead of Mark Jackson or other African-American coaches.

Per TMZ:

“My first thought was why didn’t Mark Jackson or some other African-American guys who have coached in this league at least get an opportunity to coach with the Brooklyn Nets?”

“We don’t get jobs that are that set and that good — where you got 2 stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. We don’t get those jobs where there is built-in superstardom guys on that roster right away. We get the kind of jobs where you have to make something out of nothing and when you don’t or you’re not able to do it, they’ll say, ‘Well, we gave him the opportunity.’”

Scott also thinks the players are lacking in advocacy when it comes to black coaches. For him, players should back up the other black candidates, just like what Kobe Bryant did for him back in 2014, when Scott was hired as Lakers head coach.  

“Our players don’t do a good enough job for advocating for Black coaches and that’s just something that we need to change as well.”

Scott says when he was up for the Lakers head coaching job back in 2014, it was Kobe Bryant who had his back with upper management … and lo and behold, he got hired.