Former Lakers guard and coach Byron Scott labeled the team as pretenders rather than championship contenders. Despite the addition of center Walker Kessler, Scott emphasized that the revamped Lakers will struggle defensively and need extraordinary rim protection to succeed.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most intriguing teams heading into the season, with a major overhaul of their roster.
While many view the addition of Walker Kessler as a big upgrade for the Lakers' defense, some doubt that his impact will be enough to get the team wins.
One of those people is former Laker Byron Scott, who participated in a segment on his podcast choosing whether the named NBA team is a pretender or contender and Scott chose the Los Angeles team as pretenders.
"I'm not going to say borderline. They're pretenders," Scott stated.
"I think they'll make the playoffs, but again, to [Olden Polynice's] point, defense wins championships still in this league. I know we glorify the threes and all the offense and things of that nature, but at the end of the day, you got to get stops, right?"
High expectations for Walker Kessler
Walker Kessler
Walker Kessler
Walker Kessler
The former NBA guard believes that Kessler will need to be exceptional on defense to make sure the Lakers get stops.
"And Kessler at the center position, he better average about eight blocks a game. Because they going to be getting a lot of blowbys, and the guys going to get to that basket."
Byron Scott started his playing career with the Lakers in 1983. He won three NBA championships with them in the 1980's, later returning to coach the team between 2014 and 2016.
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