Sports

Like Father, Like Son: Lakers Head Coach Byron Scott is Proud to Share His Dream with His Son Thomas

Published

11 years ago

July 28, 2015

Byron Scott is introduced as the successor to Mike D’Antoni as the Lakers’ head coach during a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Scott is the former head coach for New Jersey, New Orleans and Cleveland, reaching two NBA Finals with the Nets. He was the NBA’s coach of the year in 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

By Brandon I. Brooks
Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott is living his wildest dream. He gets to coach his hometown Lakers team, which is the team he idolized growing up in Inglewood, California playing basketball at Morningside High School.

The best part about Byron’s dream is he gets to share it with his son Thomas Scott, who works on the Lakers staff as an Assistant Coach in player development.

Thomas, parallel to his father, is living his wildest dream coaching for the Lakers. He grew up idolizing the Lakers but unlike his father, he grew up with the reality of the NBA as a backdrop.

“It all started when I was a kid and every summer, I was able to go a basketball camp,” said Thomas. “I was very fortunate and blessed to go to my dad’s basketball camp twice a summer. It was kind of non-negotiable but I wanted to do it. I love basketball. Being a shadow of my dad trying to go to practice with him on Saturday morning, going to games on the weekends and trying to get there on weekdays and things like that. I was exposed to a lot of stuff.”

During the 1980’s, Byron Scott was NBA royalty winning three championships (1985, 1987, 1988) as a critical part of the “Showtime Lakers” led by Magic Johnson with teammates Kareem Abdul–Jabbar and James Worthy. Byron went on to play for the Indiana Pacers, Vancouver Grizzlies, and again with the Lakers, who had drafted a high school rookie named Kobe Bryant and acquired a big fish through free agency named Shaquille O’neal. Scott was instrumental as a leader for the Lakers and a tandem destined for greatness during what is deemed now as the Shaq and Kobe era.

Scott would leave the Lakers and play one more season of basketball overseas for the Greek Basket League team Panathinaikos. Fittingly, Scott led them to a championship going out on top, ending a storied Hall of Fame playing career.

Byron pursued a career in coaching immediately after he finished playing in 1998. He became an assistant for the Sacramento Kings and next got his first head-coaching gig as head coach of the New Jersey Nets leading them to two back – to-back finals appearances. Scott would later coach for the New Orleans Hornets winning coach of the year in 2008. He also coached the Cleveland Cavilers before getting his dream job as the Lakers head coach this past season.

“You know I imagined it and I dreamed about it”, said Byron when asked did he ever imagine his wildest dreams would come true.

“When I played for the Lakers and got into coaching, I always said its the ultimate job. Larry Brown who was a great coach, was one of my coaches during my NBA career, he always talked about the New York Knicks would be his dream job. When I heard that, I started thinking okay, what would be my dream job? It was real quick it was like the Lakers! That would be my dream job to come back here and coach the purple and gold.”

Byron believes his story can inspire many to dream big. “You know I dreamed of playing for the Lakers, I dreamed about playing in the NBA, I dreamed about coaching the Lakers, if you truly believe in your dreams and if you truly believe in the man upstairs there are so many things that are possible. This is one of those dreams that if I pass away in the next years, I pretty much fulfilled everything that I wanted to fulfill. So I would be a happy man.”

Byron raised his son Thomas to dream big and never ask for a handout. Thomas always had to battle the bright lights of Hollywood and the fact that his dad was a famous NBA player. It’s hard for any kid with a successful father to follow in his footsteps but Thomas never seemed detoured or intimidated by the spotlight.

While coaching in New Orleans (Hornets), Byron saw that Thomas was ready to step into the professional world of basketball but had to earn his place if he was going to gain any respect.

“I didn’t want anybody to ever come back and say well the only reason Thomas is coaching is because his dad is coaching, his dad gave that to him,” said Byron.

“I wanted him to earn everything so the first thing in New Orleans, he was an assistant video coordinator, in Cleveland, he was a player development coach. Cleveland loved the way he worked and the way he related to players. They wanted him to be an assistant coach for the D-League team (Canton Charge) and he comes to L.A. and becomes and assistant for the D-League team (Los Angeles D-fenders). So at that particular time when I got the job and I talked to Mitch Kupchak and told him I wanted to hire him and put him on my staff. The good thing is they had watched him in the D-League so they thought he was extremely good with the players as well. So he had the resume at that time to make that leap. It wasn’t like I was giving him anything he had worked and earned it. That was the first thing I wanted him to do and he continues to do. If he continues to work the way he’s been working and he’s been getting accolades from the NBA to go the China this year to be an assistant coach out there, these are all the things he’s done on his own. The only thing I really did is I put him in the position to earn it and he did all the hard work.”

Thomas with the support and collaboration of his father has created You Ball Training, which is a company that provides basketball skills training from a professional level to athletes of all ages.

Led by Thomas, the organization provides a promising path towards improvement by his “Basketball Boot Camp” approach. “If you want to get better it takes hard work everyday, repetition equals progression,” says Thomas.

“Growing up you think that’s normal, seeing Magic Johnson talking to you, Kobe Bryant is asking you to rebound for him and different things like that when you are in middle school and that’s not normal. Reggie Miller giving you pointers on how to shoot and things like that. I was trying to find myself in terms of what do I love and how can I help people? And I realized God blessed me to be in the presence of greatness and pick the brains of people and players so I ended up developing You Ball Training to pass it on because if I wasn’t able to pass this information on, it would be all for a waste.”

“So I felt like it was my duty on this earth to pass on all this information that I was able to be around and all the exchanges I was able to have at an early age. I also had a chance to reflect on how important those things were as a kid and how it impacted my life so I want kids to be able to have that same experience and have that impact. I run into people that are in there thirties that say, man I remember Byron Scott basketball camp. I want to be able to be an old man and when I see young adults that are doing well for themselves and they say thank you for the lessons you taught me at You Ball Training basketball camps. That is pretty much the reason why I got into doing this.”

Byron is the catalyst of his family and has always kept his kids grounded in faith. “I think its (faith) very important, I think first of all it makes your family a whole. I think when your family prays together they stay together,” said Byron.

“We had three young kids at the time (Thomas, LonDen & DaRon), Anita and I, and every Sunday we would try to go to church. Now we didn’t make it every Sunday but we wanted to get them involved in the church and just let them know and introduce them to our heavenly father just to let them know how we felt. And my father, Thomas’ grandfather was instrumental in doing that as well. So I think from a spiritual standpoint, you know in our family it was always God first, then family, then we thought about the individual things we want to do or we want to achieve and I think we raised our kids to believe in that to this very day. So they understand how important it is to have God in their lives.”

When asked to describe their father and son relationship, Thomas said he can always call on his dad for advice and different things. “I feel like I am there for him in a lot of ways, different ways that nobody else can be there for him,” said Thomas. “We are always trying to support each other. We are around each other so much at work, we try to give each other our distance but at the same time we have a really good relationship. I am constantly learning from him. And we’ve got the same kind of personality in terms of temper and keeping things light but also working really hard. And that kind of credits our relationship I think.”

Like father, like son. No better saying can be said for two individuals that love what they do, love the people they get to do it with and love where they get to do it.

The city of Los Angeles is home to Byron Scott and Thomas Scott and will always be home, no matter where they go.

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Sale of Coliseum to African American Developers Moves Toward Completion

The deal includes the sale of the Oakland Arena to an unidentified third-party buyer for no less than $100 million, which Bobbitt said was one of the most important aspects of the site’s future redevelopment.

Published

3 weeks ago

June 16, 2026

bpusa-syndication

The deal includes the sale of the Oakland Arena to an unidentified third-party buyer for no less than $100 million, which Bobbitt said was one of the most important aspects of the site’s future redevelopment.

‘This is on the precipice of actually occurring,’ said Ray Bobbitt, buyers’ representative

By Post Staff

After many months of complex negotiations, the Oakland Coliseum development deal is finally nearing an agreement that will open the way for new owners – the African Americans Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) – to revitalize the sports complex and the Hegenberger Corridor in East Oakland.

On May 28, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a non-binding agreement to dispose of the County’s portion of the complex for $115 million in a deal with AASEG, with a closing date set for June 30.

“People are seeing that this is on the precipice of actually occurring,” said Ray Bobbitt, founder of the AASEG and an East Oakland native. “People feel that this needs to happen for Oakland, for East Oakland in particular,” Bobbitt said, as reported in the East Bay Times.

The agreement would transfer ownership of the 112-acre Coliseum complex property, which was owned 50-50 by Alameda County and the City of Oakland, to Oakland Acquisition Company, which is AASEG’s real estate wing.

The County’s approval marks an important step in the sale of the property, even though concerns about environmental liability remain. Under the terms of the non-binding agreement, the county will pay $115 million to Coliseum Way Partners, the corporate entity of the Oakland Athletics that had previously purchased the county’s half of the property for $85 million.

AASEG will then pay $115 million to the County in three annual payments, with 5% annual interest paid on any outstanding balance, according to the term sheet.

AASEG already negotiated a purchase of the city’s half of the property for $125 million in 2025, awaiting the sale of the county’s half.

A strong supporter of the sale, Supervisor Nate Miley said he was not “breaking out the champagne” until the sale was final. This is not perfect, but it is good.

“It’s good because the County ends up with more money,” Miley continued. “It’s good because an African American team takes ownership of the property, and they’ve got a lot of potential in terms of what they want to do with the property.”

A remaining disagreement between Alameda County and the AASEG involves environmental concerns.

AASEG wanted a “carve-out” for environmental concerns so that it would not face liability for the release of groundwater into San Francisco Bay without a permit. Obtaining a permit could be time-consuming and expensive, requiring the need for consultants, studies, and an oversight process by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

County supervisors unanimously supported the non-binding agreement without the carve-out, though Bobbitt said delaying or excluding the carve-out creates timing risks for the project.

“The motion is to accept the terms as presented, excluding the carve-out,” Board of Supervisors President David Haubert said. “Noting that it’s a non-binding term sheet and terms can always be discussed going forward. It’s been pointed out that that could affect the deal, timing, which we’ve been at this for nine years, but what’s a little more time?”

“The arena represents an anchor of the site,” said Babbitt. “This arena … has become a pop culture mecca, and the opportunity to enhance that and expand that is critical to the overall process.”

Speaking at the Board of Supervisors meeting, Miley explained the County’s reasoning behind some of the complex negotiations. He asked interim County Counsel Andrea Weddle:

“In layman’s term’s who’s on the hook for the environmental (cleanup)” under the current deal with the Oakland A’s?

“When the county with a former board entered in the deal with the (A’s), we took on all of the environmental obligations,” Miley said. “Since then, we’ve learned a lot more about the environmental conditions of the Coliseum.”

“If we do a deal with Coliseum Way Partners (the A’s), we remain on the hook,” she said. “If we do a deal as we’ve currently structured with OAC (AASEG), we have eliminated some or hopefully all (or) as much as we can of that liability and aligned our deal with the terms of the city.”

Bobbitt, despite his concerns, supported the nonbinding agreement. He said the public has waited nearly a decade to come to this point.

“The community support has been overwhelming,” he said. “We’ve used a lot of P-words: patience, perseverance, persistence. And we’ve just had to do it, and we understand how complex this has been.”

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Seth Curry Makes Impressive Debut with the Golden State Warriors

Seth looked comfortable in his new uniform, seamlessly fitting into the Warriors’ offensive and defensive system. He finished the night with an impressive 14 points, becoming one of the team’s top scorers for the game. Seth’s points came in a variety of ways – floaters, spot-up three-pointers, mid-range jumpers, and a handful of aggressive drives that kept the Oklahoma City Thunder defense on its heels.

Published

7 months ago

December 4, 2025

Oakland Post

Seth Curry is a point guard on the GSW team.Photo courtesy of the Golden State Warriors.

By Y’Anad Burrell

Tuesday night was anything but ordinary for fans in San Francisco as Seth Curry made his highly anticipated debut as a new member of the Golden State Warriors. Seth didn’t disappoint, delivering a performance that not only showcased his scoring ability but also demonstrated his added value to the team.

At 35, the 12-year NBA veteran on Monday signed a contract to play with the Warriors for the rest of the season.

One of the most memorable moments of the evening came before Seth even scored his first points. As he checked into the game, the Chase Center erupted into applause, with fans rising to their feet to give the newest Warrior a standing ovation.

The crowd’s reaction was a testament not only to Seth’s reputation as a sharpshooter but also to the excitement he brings to the Warriors. It was clear that fans quickly embraced Seth as one of their own, eager to see what he could bring to the team’s championship aspirations.

Warriors’ superstar Steph Curry – Seth’s brother – did not play due to an injury. One could only imagine what it would be like if the Curry brothers were on the court together. Magic in the making.

Seth’s debut proved to be a turning point for the Warriors. Not only did he contribute on the scoreboard, but he also brought a sense of confidence and composure to the floor.

While their loss last night, OKC 124 – GSW 112, Seth’s impact was a game-changer and there’s more yet to come. Beyond statistics, it was clear that Seth’s presence elevated the team’s performance, giving the Warriors a new force as they look to make a deep playoff run.

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Barbara Lee

WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries Kick Off Season with Community Programs in Oakland

“The Golden State Valkyries are more than a team—they’re a movement,” said Oakland Interim-Mayor Kevin Jenkins. “Their touchdown in Oakland marks a new era of opportunity, inspiration, and equity in sports. This partnership reflects our city’s deep commitment to uplifting women, investing in youth, and building a community where every dream has a place to grow. We’re proud to welcome the Valkyries to The Town.”

Published

1 year ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The Valkyries came to Oakland City Hall with a “Hoopbus.” Present were (from left to right): City Councilmembers Noel Gallo, Rebecca Kaplan, Zac Unger and Rowena Brown; Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, Valkyries President Jess Smith, a Valkyries team representative and Deputy Mayor LaNiece Jones. Photo courtesy Rebecca Kaplan’s office.

Team installs new nets at playgrounds, holds flag-raisings at City Halls in Oakland and S.F.

Special to The Post

The Golden State Valkyries brought the excitement of their inaugural season to every corner of the Bay Area with a full slate of community celebrations leading up to their historic home-opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday.

The week featured flag-raising ceremonies at city halls in Oakland and San Francisco, three “Violet Net” installation days at Oakland parks to encourage basketball play, fun “Hoopbus” takeovers at multiple schools presented by Kaiser Permanente, and player appearances.

In total, 90 violet nets were installed on 45 basketball courts across 34 public parks throughout Oakland this week. A list of the parks receiving violet nets can be found at Valkyries.com.

About the Golden State Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA affiliate of the seven-time NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, were announced as the 13th WNBA franchise on Oct. 5, 2023. According to Norse mythology, Valkyries are a host of warrior women who are fearless and unwavering – flying through air and sea alike.

This brand is Golden State’s modern interpretation of Valkyries: strong, bold, and fierce. Tipping off during the 2025 WNBA season, the team is headquartered in Oakland and will play home games at Chase Center in San Francisco. For Golden State Valkyries’ assets, including team logos, visit valkyries.com.