The Los Angeles Lakers fired coach Byron Scott following the worst two seasons in the team’s 68-season history.
“We would like to thank Byron for his hard work, dedication and loyalty over the last two years, but have decided it is in the best interest of the organization to make a change at this time,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said Sunday in a statement released by the team.
A search for a new coach will begin immediately, according to the team.
Scott had a 38-126 record in his two seasons as coach. The Lakers had a team-worst 17-65 record in the recently completed 2015-16 season. They were 21- 61 in the 2014-15 season, which set a record as the worst in team history.
Scott had two team options left on his contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Yahoo!-affiliated website The Vertical, who was the first to report that Scott had been fired.
Scott’s successor will be the Lakers fourth permanent coach in five seasons.
Wojnarowski reported that possible candidates to replace Scott include Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, like Scott, a former Laker player; former Houston Rockets and New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy; University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, a graduate of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High School; and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina, who had been a consultant to the Lakers during the 2011-12 season.
—Staff and wire reports