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“I Wanted to Keep That Promise”: Los Angeles Lakers Legend Finally Gets His Bachelors Degree After 37 Years

Published 06/15/2020, 2:13 PM EDT

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Byron Scott has one of the most impressive coaching portfolios in the NBA. Even as a player, he was a 3 time NBA champ with the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers. The most recent addition to his portfolio though is a surprising one. On Sunday the 59-year-old announced that he has finally obtained his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State. This comes roughly 37 years after Scott first left the institute.

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Scott revealed that he had promised his mother a while back that he would get his degree. Scott also said: “She passed a few years ago, and that thought came back to my mind that I had promised to get my degree. … I wanted to keep that promise. I just said I have to do this.”

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Byron played three seasons with the Arizona State Sun Devils, before being drafted 4th overall by the San Diego Clippers, who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Byron’s run with the Los Angeles Lakers

Scott suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers alongside legends like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He played a key role in the 3 championship runs but was eclipsed by Magic Johnson’s incredible performances. In the 1987-’88 season, he led the NBA champion Lakers in scoring with 21.7 ppg and also led the league in 3 point FG% in 1984-85. After being traded in 1993, Scott returned to L.A. for his final season in 1996 and served as a mentor to a young Shaq and rookie Kobe Bryant.

Byron Scott as a coach

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Byron Scott started his coaching career as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings in 1997-98 season. Scott then started coaching the New Jersey Nets in 2000-01 season and led the Nets to their franchise-record of 52 wins in a season. Scott then went on to coach the New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers before finally coaching his former teammate Kobe Bryant in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

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Written by:

Deepanshu Varshney

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