According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal , the Cleveland Cavaliers have fired head coach Byron Scott just one day after the end of the NBA regular season. Scott’s Cavaliers lost 16 of their last 18 games and finished in last place in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference.
The 52-year-old spent three seasons as the Cavaliers’ head coach and finished with a .278 winning percentage. Scott sports a 64-166 record while he led the Cavaliers and has the worst winning percentage of any coach in franchise history that spent at least one full season as head coach.
Before taking over in Cleveland, Scott spent 3 1/2 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, now the Brooklyn Nets, before being fired and went on to coach the New Orleans Hornets for five years. Scott was fired nine games into the 2009-10 season after the Hornets started off 3-6.
His best finish in Cleveland came during last year’s lockout-shortened season with a 21-45 record. Scott’s best wasn’t even close to good as the Cavaliers fell nearly 15 games short of a playoff spot.
His coaching career fell apart after reaching back-to-back NBA finals with the Nets in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. The Nets lost in both finals and Scott was given the boot during the following season. After he failed to make it out of the conference semifinals with the Hornets, Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert gave him another shot at improving a young team.
Scott took the reigns in Cleveland with one simple goal in mind; help the team improve moving forward. The Cavaliers failed to progress at a decent pace though they had no expectations of making the playoffs during Scott’s tenure.
With the talent already set in Kyrie Irving, owner Dan Gilbert has made the decision to let go of Byron Scott in hopes of bringing new life to his reeling club.
It’s tough to put the blame completely on Scott as he took the job in 2010 with LeBron James still on the roster. A few days after Scott signed, James decided to move on to South Beach and joined Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
The Cavaliers instantly went from an NBA championship competitor to a rebuilding team with no playoff hopes. Scott was given the job of finding a new foundation to start from and it never panned out.
Is Byron Scott’s career as a head coach finished or will he get another chance to hold the clipboard in the NBA?
[Image via Erik Drost ]