Byron Scott

They came, they saw, and they saw some more, mostly the other team winning. But celebrate the Lakers did not, not for a third consecutive season. Destiny came calling Tuesday night on the Lakers in resounding fashion, a four-game sweep by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals. The response, while not noted in the history books, was, "Yeah, but what if . . . " What if Byron Scott had not missed the series because of a partially torn left hamstring, suffered in practice the day before Game 1 a week ago Tuesday?

The Cleveland Cavaliers intend to speak with former Lakers coach Mike Brown as the team begins its search for a candidate to replace fired coach Byron Scott . Brown's return as the Cavaliers coach, once thought too farfetched, is a distinct possibility. "It should be," said James after the Miami Heat practice Friday. James played for Brown when the Cavaliers reached their greatest heights before the coach was fired three years ago. Brown is a close friend of Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant , who would not answer a direct question about Brown during a news conference to announce Scott's dismissal on Thursday but made it clear the Cavaliers would bring in a coach "who is strong defensively with proven systems.

About as deep as the Los Angeles River at low tide, the depleted Lakers floundered and finally succumbed to wave after wave of pressure from the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night. With guard Byron Scott sidelined because of a torn hamstring, and with early foul trouble visiting three starters, the Lakers simply did not have enough bodies and ability Tuesday night to prevent a 109-97 loss to the Pistons in Game 1 of the National Basketball Assn. championship series. In lieu of Scott, out perhaps for the entire series, the Lakers gave us Michael Cooper and, later, Tony Campbell.

A lost cause? Embattled Cleveland Coach Byron Scott, a former Lakers All-Star, on the struggling Cavaliers' mentality: "If guys don't fear or hate losing as much as I do, we're going to keep going through what we're going through. You have to be to the point where you hate losing. In the '80s, we hated losing games. It was gut-wrenching. I don't know if we've gone through that. I have. I don't know if they have. " She got game Miami forward Shane Battier, on the prospects of someone such as Baylor's Brittney Griner playing in the NBA: "There's no doubt that in our lifetime, there will be a woman NBA player.

All the Lakers are saying is that guard Byron Scott, who missed the opener Tuesday night, will also miss Thursday night's Game 2 of the National Basketball Assn. championship series with a partially torn left hamstring. But Dr. Robert Kerlan, the Lakers' physician, said before Game 1 there is a distinct possibility that Scott will miss the entire series against the Detroit Pistons after suffering the injury in practice here Monday. "It might be (the entire series), but we're just specifically committed to the first two games," Kerlan said.

Byron Scott is back with the Lakers, having signed a partially guaranteed contract Monday for the league minimum of $247,500 after weeks of considering other teams and other countries but always dreaming of returning home. In another development, Michael Cooper quit as assistant coach to pursue other options. That job now goes to Kurt Rambis.

The Chicago Bulls' search for scoring and backcourt help in the wake of the retirement of Michael Jordan may lead to Byron Scott. Scott's agent, Bob Woolf, said he has had conversations with Bull management about the 32-year-old free-agent guard. Interest in the former Laker apparently predated Jordan's Wednesday announcement, although Chicago officials may have known such a decision was coming.

Ah, yes . . . jealousy rears its ugly head again in the form of Tom (wide-body, narrow-mind) Heinsohn and the rest of what CBS thinks "expert commentators" should look and sound like. I can sympathize with them a little, because I, too, miss the '60s, but not for the same reason they do. The Lakers are the basketball team of the '80s. ROBERT JINKINS Los Angeles

It seems that Magic, Kareem and Worthy get all the ink. Let's mention Byron Scott. He stinks! If he would only be a non-factor in the important games, that would be fine. But he is such a negative factor. In Game 3 he shot 4 for 17, in Game 4, 3 for 10. Isn't it curious that Mr. Clutch (Jerry West) thinks so highly of Mr. Unclutch? Bring back Norm Nixon and Mike McGee. RONALD A. LEDERKRAMER Walnut

Evidently the Lakers have some sort of secret initiation ritual, whereby a select few are allowed to become real Lakers, members of the Malevolent Brotherhood of Crunchtime. When you are deemed worthy, they probably make you wear a funny hat and recite a pledge, then dunk you in a vat of analgesic balm. You earn a pair of purple wings, they teach you the secret handshake, and you're one of the boys , inside the inside.

Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Byron Scott has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for criticizing the officiating following a 91-73 loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. The Cavaliers attempted just nine free throws to Minnesota's 35, and Scott said the officiating was "that bad. " He said: "I mean I understand we're playing in Minnesota, but 35-9, we went to the basket just as much as they did. " The NBA announced the fine Sunday. Celtics' Wilcox fined Chris Wilcox of the Boston Celtics has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for making an obscene gesture toward fans during a game.

The Lakers have to fill a very big void now that Coach Phil Jackson is walking away into retirement — again. The decision on the new Lakers coach will be made by owner Jerry Buss, his son Jim Buss, the team's executive vice president of player personnel, and General Manager Mitch Kupchak. The Lakers can only hope this hire turns out better than the last time they replaced Jackson. The Lakers hired Rudy Tomjanovich as coach, but he lasted only 41 games into the 2004-05 season before leaving because of health problems.

Watch out for fans with cakes Charlotte Coach Paul Silas , on Kwame Brown , who averaged 9-9 and shot 54% in January, before sliding to 7-7 and 42% since: "I'm so excited for him. He's been much maligned in this league. Now he's playing up to his potential. " And it helps if one is Durant Cleveland Coach Byron Scott , on emulating Oklahoma City's rebuilding program: "You've got to admire the way they've done it, no doubt about that. It's nothing that's going to happen overnight.

The road the Lakers have traveled this season has had some bumps at times. That's to be expected, Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Byron Scott said. Winning championships is never easy, Scott said, especially when a team is trying to win three consecutive NBA titles like the Lakers seek. "I understand what they are going through," said Scott, who won three NBA championships with the Lakers during the Showtime era of the 1980s. "But the season is never going to be ? for any team, especially the champions ?

As Phil Jackson might say, thank heavens that's over. Except it's never over. This is going to be a challenging summer, even for the two-time defending champions, whose coach is leaning toward retirement. This isn't about money or appreciation, but Phil Jackson's concerns about health and the quality of the rest of his life. Jackson found retirement hard — read b-o-r-i-n-g — both times he tried it, in 1999 and 2004. At 64, it's just a matter of whether he leaves now or in a year, so why not go out on top, rather than hack his way through another season that could be even tougher than this one, on the chance he could stay on top?

Former Lakers guard Byron Scott won three NBA championships with the team. He lost his first NBA Finals as a rookie, against the Boston Celtics, in 1984. He won his next two championships against the Celtics in 1985 — the first Lakers team to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals in eight tries — and 1987. Scott's preview of the Finals, as told to Times staff writer Broderick Turner : No. 1, the Lakers are going to win the series. I think it's probably going to go six or seven games, there's no doubt about that.

This Day in Sports, Aug. 18, 1989: The Orlando Magic outscored the World Champion Detroit Pistons. The Orlando Magic s hut out the World Champion Detroit Pistons. This, of course, is possible only in a rare clime. Say, perhaps, the Byron Scott Challenge for Children all-star game Friday at UC Irvine's Bren Center. No Pistons were in attendance. Can't trust the U.S. Mail to deliver an engraved invitation these days, Byron? Bill Laimbeer previously engaged? We understand.

Who says you can't win the lottery twice? Mike Dunleavy is a great guy, but the decision Thursday to finally move him off the Clippers' bench could prove as charmed as last spring's draft win. Back then, the Clippers used the NBA lottery prize to make Blake Griffin the No. 1 overall pick. Thanks to Dunleavy's departure, they now have a chance to make the same kind of impact addition with a coach. They have never been in a better position to add the guy who can lead them into June.

When Byron Scott was the coach of the New Orleans Hornets, Darren Collison never started and his playing time was limited. Of course, Collison was playing behind All-Star point guard Chris Paul too. Then Scott was fired nine games ago and Paul went down because of a sprained left ankle one game after that, opening the door for Collison to become the starter. However the coincidence worked out, Collison, a former UCLA star, has taken advantage of his opportunity. He started his eighth game of the season Tuesday night against the Lakers at Staples Center.