Byron Scott

Last updated

Byron Scott
Byron scott & terrell owens.jpg
Scott (left) in 2016
Personal information
Born (1961-03-28) March 28, 1961 (age 63)
Ogden, Utah, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school Morningside (Inglewood, California)
College Arizona State (19791983)
NBA draft 1983: 1st round, 4th overall pick
Selected by the San Diego Clippers
Playing career1983–1998
Position Shooting guard
Number4, 00, 11
Coaching career1998–2016
Career history
As player:
19831993 Los Angeles Lakers
19931995 Indiana Pacers
1995–1996 Vancouver Grizzlies
1996–1997 Los Angeles Lakers
1997–1998 Panathinaikos
As coach:
19982000 Sacramento Kings (assistant)
20002004 New Jersey Nets
20042009 New Orleans Hornets [lower-alpha 1]
20102013 Cleveland Cavaliers
20142016 Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career NBA statistics
Points 15,097 (14.1 ppg)
Rebounds 2,987 (2.8 rpg)
Assists 2,729 (2.5 apg)
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at NBA.com
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at Basketball-Reference.com

Byron Antom Scott (born March 28, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, Scott won three NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year with the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) in 2008.

Contents

Early life and college career

Scott grew up in Inglewood, California, and played at Morningside High School, in the shadow of what was then the Lakers' home arena, The Forum. He played college basketball at Arizona State University for three years and had a successful career with the Sun Devils. He was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1980 and First-team All-Pac-10 in 1983. He averaged 17.5 points per game in his career for the Sun Devils. He left after his junior year, entering the 1983 NBA draft. In 2011, his No. 11 was retired by the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Professional career

NBA

Selected by the San Diego Clippers in the first round, with the fourth pick of the 1983 NBA draft, Scott was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983 in exchange for Norm Nixon. During his playing career, Scott suited up for the Lakers, Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies. Scott was a key player for the Lakers during the Showtime era, being a starter alongside Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and A.C. Green. He played for the Lakers for 10 consecutive seasons (1983–1993). During that time he was on three NBA championship teams (1985, 1987, 1988). As a rookie, Scott was a member of the 1984 all-rookie team, averaging 10.6 PPG in 22 MPG. He led the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (.433) in 1984–85. In 1987–88, Scott enjoyed his best season, leading the NBA champion Lakers in scoring, averaging a career-best 21.7 ppg, and in steals (1.91 spg). He was the Lakers' starting shooting guard from 1984 until 1993.

Scott speaks with the media after winning the 1988 NBA Finals. Byron Scott 1988 (cropped).jpg
Scott speaks with the media after winning the 1988 NBA Finals.

Scott was released by the Lakers after the 1992–93 season and signed a free-agent contract with the Pacers. In Game 1 of the Pacers' first-round playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic, Scott hit the game-winning three-point shot with 2.4 seconds left. The Pacers would go on to sweep the Magic and eventually advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.

Scott was left unprotected by the Pacers in the 1995 NBA expansion draft and was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies, where he played one season.

In 1996–97, the last year of Scott's playing career in the NBA, he went back to the Lakers and proved to be a valuable mentor for a team featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and 18-year-old rookie Kobe Bryant (Scott would be Bryant's coach on the Lakers towards the end of the latter's career).

Panathinaikos

Scott with Panathinaikos in 1998 ByronScottPanathinaikos1998.jpg
Scott with Panathinaikos in 1998

In the summer of 1997, Scott signed with the Greek Basket League team Panathinaikos for the 1997–98 season. That season, he played with Panathinaikos in both the FIBA Saporta Cup (known then as the FIBA EuroCup), Europe's second-tier level competition after the top-tier EuroLeague, and the Greek Basket League. In the Saporta Cup's 1997–98 season, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals, in 25.6 minutes per game, in 17 games played. [1]

Scott helped to lead his team to the Greek Basket League championship with his scoring in many crucial games. In the Greek Basket League's 1997–98 season, he averaged 17.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, in 33.7 minutes per game, in 34 games played. [2] After one season with the Greek Basket League champions, Scott retired from playing professional basketball, and began his coaching career.

Coaching career

Sacramento Kings

Scott began his NBA coaching career in 1998 as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings under Rick Adelman. He served as an advance scout that looked at game plans on offense alongside work in the perimeter. [3]

New Jersey Nets

On June 27, 2000, Scott was hired to coach the New Jersey Nets after being offered the job the previous day by general manager Rod Thorn. He was hired to replace Don Casey, who had been fired on April 26 after coaching the team since last March. Scott was considered for the Indiana Pacers job prior to reaching with Thorn, who himself had been hired recently to try and turn over a team that had missed the playoffs in five of the past six seasons while having had twelve head coaches in 23 seasons as an NBA franchise; the day that Scott was hired was right before the 2000 NBA draft, for which the Nets had the first overall pick. [4]

His team performed poorly in his first year, winning just 26 games with new draft pick Kenyon Martin. Stephen Jackson made an impression as a first-year player having come from the CBA and foreign leagues that year but was not retained. Years later, Jackson called Scott the "worst communicator for young guys". [5] However, the team would improve in dividends in the 2001–02 season with the arrival of Jason Kidd in a trade that sent Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns. Kidd and the Nets won 52 games, a franchise record. In the process, they won their first Atlantic Division crown and were the number one seed. In the first round against the Indiana Pacers, the Nets had to play the full five games to narrowly avoid an upset, which saw them go on a 13-2 barrage in the second overtime to win their first playoff series since 1984. In the semifinals against Charlotte, they dispatched them in five games to advance to their first Conference Finals as an NBA team and first overall semifinal since the ABA era in 1976. They faced the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals and split the first four games, which notably saw them blow a 26-point lead in Game 3. The Nets rallied with decisive victories in Game 5 and 6 to win the series. They appeared in their first NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, who were headlined by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in their third straight NBA Finals appearance. In Game 1, Kidd had the first triple-double in an NBA Finals since 1993, but the Lakers led by a score of 42–19 only six minutes into the second quarter and never looked back in a 99–94 win. In Game 2, the Nets were down six by the first quarter being over and never cut into the lead after that on the road to a 23-point loss. Game 3 was the only tight game that saw the Nets lead until Robert Horry made a three-point shot with 3:04 to go that gave the Lakers a go-ahead lead they never lost. [6] The Nets lost Game 4 by a score of 113-107 as the Lakers won their third straight championship.

The following campaign saw them regress to 49 wins, marred by injuries to newly acquired Dikembe Mutombo that saw Kidd as their lone All-Star. They were 34–15 at the All-Star break, but they played below .500 the rest of the year to wind up with 49 wins, which was one short of the Detroit Pistons for the number one seed in the East. In the First Round against the Milwaukee Bucks, they split the first four games before eventually pulling out a series win in Game 6. They did not lose again for the next two rounds, dispatching Boston in the Semifinals and the Pistons in a straight sweep to win their second straight conference championship. They were matched in the NBA Finals to face the 60-win San Antonio Spurs, headlined by two-time league MVP Tim Duncan, a retiring David Robinson, and future stars Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. The two teams split the first four games. The Spurs won Game 1 after a 32-17 third quarter to ultimately win by 12, but New Jersey won Game 2 after a ten-point fourth quarter lead nearly turned into a loss before a missed three point shot with seconds remaining meant the Nets held on to win 87–85. [7] In Game 3, the Spurs trailed by three before the fourth quarter started but took the lead with eight minutes remaining and never relinquished it. [8] Game 4 saw the Nets lead by eleven points in a tight defensive affair that saw both teams score under 80 points for the only time in the series. The Spurs were up by one in the fourth quarter after a busy third quarter, but Kidd made four free throws in the final nine seconds as the Nets won 77–76 to tie the series. [9] In Game 5, the Spurs took control early and led for a majority of the game, and after making a shot in the third quarter with three minutes remaining to take the lead back, they never looked back in a 93–83 win. [10] Game 6 saw the Nets on the brink of elimination. The Nets took the lead on the very first points and even had a 10-point barrage at one point, but they were only up three points at halftime. By the end of the third, they were up 63-57 and had not trailed once. [11] The Nets led 72–63 with 8:55 left to play in the fourth quarter. However, the Nets went cold in an instant, losing the lead through the help of Duncan and newly acquired Stephen Jackson to score ten points in the span of two minutes. The Nets scored just five points in the last 8:55 of the game while the Spurs ended up with 25 in that same span as the Nets allowed 19 unanswered points, complete with Duncan nearly having a quadruple-double (21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, 8 blocks) while a retiring Robinson had 13 points and 17 rebounds. The Nets scored 492 total points in the series, the second lowest for a six-game series while shooting 34.5%. [12] Kidd was quoted as saying that the team lost their composure and "unraveled". [13]

By July 2003, tension was apparent with the Nets, who were being dogged by reports that Kidd asked that Scott to be fired in order for him to agree to re-sign to a six-year contract. Scott himself admitted that his stubborn qualities with Kidd requires him to need to try to be more of a "taskmaster" in being more hands on, particularly with the departure of assistant coach Eddie Jordan, who had left for the Washington Wizards after having done his share of calling plays. Scott was approaching the 2003–04 season as the last one of his contract while being dogged by articles that had anonymous sources criticizing his coaching in the 2003 NBA Finals. [14]

Scott was fired during the 2003–04 season, as New Jersey had a disappointing 22–20 record coming into the All-Star break, even though they were leading their division at the time of his dismissal. Rumors of a rift between Scott and Kidd circulated media outlets, with sources allegedly claiming that Kidd wanted Scott out of Jersey. All the parties, including Rod Thorn, denied the reports. Scott claimed that he was "very surprised" by the report and that he and Kidd "always got along". Kidd stated later that "Sometimes change or a different voice is good." [15] [16]

He was succeeded by his assistant Lawrence Frank. While coaching the Nets, Scott lived in Livingston, New Jersey. [17]

New Orleans Hornets

Byron Scott talks to Chris Paul in a 2009 game; Scott was head coach of the New Orleans Hornets from 2004 to 2009. Byron Scott talking to Chris Paul.jpg
Byron Scott talks to Chris Paul in a 2009 game; Scott was head coach of the New Orleans Hornets from 2004 to 2009.

Scott became the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets in 2004. Chris Paul was drafted by the team in 2005, and was named Rookie of the Year. In the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, he guided the team to a pair of sub .500 seasons. One obstacle was that the team played most of its home games in Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans.

In the 2007–08 season, Scott had his first winning season as the Hornets head coach. They had a winning percentage of .683 with a record of 56–26. They became Southwest Division champions and finished 2nd overall in the Western Conference. He was named the head coach of the 2008 Western Conference All-Star team, and a few months after, he was awarded the 2007–08 NBA Coach of the Year Award. Due to his success, the Hornets awarded Scott with a two-year extension.

The Hornets had a 30–11 home record and a 26–15 road record and clinched the second seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Hornets won their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks, posting a 4–1 record for the series. They would go on to face the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. An unusual trend of home court blowouts would mark the series until the deciding game 7 when the veteran Spurs would pull out a 91–82 win on the Hornets rowdy home court. The win marked the 100th playoff victory for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

In the 2008–09 season, the Hornets finished 49–33 and entered the playoffs as a seventh seed. They faced the Denver Nuggets in the first round, losing after five brutal games, including a 58-point loss in game 4, which tied the worst margin of defeat in NBA postseason history. [18] [19] Scott was relieved from his head coaching duties for the Hornets on November 12, 2009, following a 3–6 start. [20] He was mentioned as a candidate for several NBA coaching jobs, including the Los Angeles Clippers, but nothing came to fruition. [21]

Following his dismissal, he briefly served as a studio analyst for the NBA on ESPN.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Byron Scott (left) coaching the Cavaliers in 2013 Byron Scott Kyrie Irving.jpg
Byron Scott (left) coaching the Cavaliers in 2013

On July 1, 2010, Scott was named head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a few days before the team lost star LeBron James to the Miami Heat. [22] [23] [24] During Scott's first season at the helm of the Cavaliers, he watched his team endure a 26-game losing streak, which was then the longest such streak in NBA history. Scott was reunited with Baron Davis (whom he coached with the Hornets) when a mid-season trade brought Davis to Cleveland, and helped the Cavaliers close the season with several victories, [25] including a 102–90 upset victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat, [26] which ensured that Cleveland did not have the worst record in the league at the season's end. [27]

Cleveland used their first overall pick to draft Kyrie Irving, who became the second point guard Scott coached to the Rookie of the Year award. His second season in Cleveland saw them show some improvement in a shortened 66-game schedule.

On April 18, 2013, Scott was fired by Cleveland Cavaliers management. [28] [29] Though the Cavaliers ranked in the bottom five of the league in defensive efficiency in each of his three seasons, [30] analysts were surprised at the firing given the team's young and oft-injured rosters. [31] Irving and other Cavaliers players expressed their disappointment with the firing. [32]

Los Angeles Lakers

Scott spent the 2013–14 season as a Lakers television analyst on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. [33] After the season, he was the frontrunner to become the new Lakers head coach. He interviewed three times for the position, which had become vacant after Mike D'Antoni's resignation. [34] On July 28, 2014, he signed a multi-year contract to coach the Lakers. [35] [36]

With the team rebuilding in 2014–15, Scott finished his first season as coach of the Lakers with a 21–61 record. In the 2015 NBA draft, the Lakers selected Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell with the second overall pick. The Lakers finished a franchise-worst 17–65 in 2015–16, Kobe Bryant's final season before retiring. On April 24, 2016, the Lakers did not exercise their option on Scott's contract for the following season, deciding to pursue a new coach. [37] His 38–126 (.232) record with the team was the worst of any of the 16 coaches who had led the franchise for at least two seasons. [38] [39]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
  Won an NBA championship  * Led the league

NBA

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1983–84 L.A. Lakers 744922.1.484.235.8062.22.41.1.310.6
1984–85 L.A. Lakers 816528.5.539.433*.8202.63.01.1.216.0
1985–86 L.A. Lakers 766228.8.513.361.7842.52.21.1.215.4
1986–87 L.A. Lakers 828233.3.489.436.8923.53.41.5.217.0
1987–88 L.A. Lakers 818137.6.527.346.8584.14.11.9.321.7
1988–89 L.A. Lakers 747335.2.491.399.8634.13.11.5.419.6
1989–90 L.A. Lakers 777733.7.470.423.7663.13.61.0.415.5
1990–91 L.A. Lakers 828232.1.477.324.7973.02.21.2.314.5
1991–92 L.A. Lakers 828232.7.458.344.8383.82.81.3.314.9
1992–93 L.A. Lakers 585328.9.449.326.8482.32.7.9.213.7
1993–94 Indiana 67217.9.467.365.8051.62.0.9.110.4
1994–95 Indiana 80119.1.455.389.8501.91.4.8.210.0
1995–96 Vancouver 80023.7.401.335.8352.41.5.8.310.2
1996–97 L.A. Lakers 79818.2.430.388.8411.51.3.6.26.7
Career107371728.1.482.370.8332.82.51.1.314.1

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1984 L.A. Lakers 20020.2.460.200.6001.91.7.9.18.6
1985 L.A. Lakers 191930.8.517.476.7952.72.62.2.216.9
1986 L.A. Lakers 141433.6.497.353.9053.93.01.4.116.0
1987 L.A. Lakers 181833.8.490.206.7913.43.21.1.214.8
1988 L.A. Lakers 242437.4.499.436.8654.22.51.4.219.6
1989 L.A. Lakers 111136.5.494.385.8364.12.31.6.219.9
1990 L.A. Lakers 9936.1.462.382.7694.12.62.2.313.4
1991 L.A. Lakers 181837.7.511.526.7943.21.61.3.213.2
1992 L.A. Lakers 4437.0.500.583.8892.53.51.5.318.8
1993 L.A. Lakers 5535.4.500.533.7832.21.81.0.013.6
1994 Indiana 16014.9.396.474.7842.11.3.8.17.8
1995 Indiana 17017.5.340.265.8821.5.9.6.16.1
1997 L.A. Lakers 8016.8.455.364.8951.51.4.1.06.4
Career18312229.3.482.395.8192.92.11.2.213.4

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular seasonGGames coachedWGames wonLGames lostW–L %Win–loss %
PlayoffsPGPlayoff gamesPWPlayoff winsPLPlayoff lossesPW–L %Playoff win–loss %
TeamYearGWLW–L%FinishPGPWPLPW–L%Result
New Jersey 2000–01 822656.3176th in Atlantic Missed playoffs
New Jersey 2001–02 825230.6341st in Atlantic20119.550Lost in NBA Finals
New Jersey 2002–03 824933.5981st in Atlantic20146.700Lost in NBA Finals
New Jersey 2003–04 422220.524(fired)
New Orleans 2004–05 821864.2205th in Southwest Missed playoffs
New Orleans/Oklahoma City 2005–06 823844.4634th in SouthwestMissed playoffs
New Orleans/Oklahoma City 2006–07 823943.4764th in SouthwestMissed playoffs
New Orleans 2007–08 825626.6831st in Southwest1275.583Lost in Conference semifinals
New Orleans 2008–09 824933.5984th in Southwest514.200Lost in First round
New Orleans 2009–10 936.333(fired)
Cleveland 2010–11 821963.2325th in Central Missed playoffs
Cleveland 2011–12 662145.3185th in CentralMissed playoffs
Cleveland 2012–13 822458.2935th in CentralMissed playoffs
L.A. Lakers 2014–15 822161.2565th in Pacific Missed playoffs
L.A. Lakers 2015–16 821765.2075th in PacificMissed playoffs
Career1,101454647.412 573324.579 

Personal life

Scott's non-profit organization, The Byron Scott Children's Fund, has raised more than $15 million over the past decade, with the proceeds going to various children's charities.[ citation needed ] Scott has recently[ when? ] served as a studio analyst for ABC's NBA telecasts and was featured on ESPN.[ citation needed ]

Scott and his ex-wife, Anita, have 3 children. [40] In June 2013, Scott and Anita separated and in March 2014, he filed for divorce after 29 years of marriage due to irreconcilable differences. [41]

On July 11, 2020, Scott married Cece Gutierrez, a registered nurse and cast member of VH1's reality show Basketball Wives . He converted to Catholicism in late 2020 following their marriage. [42]

Scott went back to school at Arizona State 37 years after leaving school early when he was drafted by the Lakers, and obtained a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, fulfilling a promise he'd made to his late mother. [43]

See also

Notes

  1. During the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, the team was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets during their temporary relocation to Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina.

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The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began with the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the owners of the 30 NBA teams and the NBA's players. The previous CBA, which was ratified in 2005, expired at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2011, resulting in a lockout. With the new deal in place, the regular season was shortened from the normal 82 games per team to 66, because of nearly two months of inactivity. This was the league's first season since 1991–92 without Shaquille O'Neal, who announced his retirement on June 1, 2011, via social media. A 4-time champion, O'Neal played 19 years for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics. The season began on Christmas Day 2011, and ended on April 26, 2012. The playoffs started on April 28 and ended on June 21 when the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their series, 121–106, winning the Finals, 4–1 and to capture the franchise's second NBA title. LeBron James was named both the season MVP and the NBA Finals MVP. The NBA regular season would not begin again in December until the 2020–21 NBA season.

The 2003–04 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 37th season in the National Basketball Association, and 28th season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. After speculating that he would sign with the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the off-season, Jason Kidd signed a 6-year, $99 million deal to stay with the Nets.

The 2013–14 NBA season was the 68th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 29, 2013, with the Indiana Pacers hosting a game against the Orlando Magic followed by the 2012–13 NBA champions Miami Heat hosting a game against the Chicago Bulls followed by the Los Angeles Lakers hosting a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The 2014 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 16, 2014, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Cleveland's Kyrie Irving won the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. The regular season ended on April 16, 2014, and the playoffs began on April 19, 2014, and ended on June 15, 2014, with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the Miami Heat in five games to win the 2014 NBA Finals.

The 2014–15 NBA season was the 69th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA draft took place on June 26, 2014, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Andrew Wiggins was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The regular season began on October 28, 2014, when the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs hosted the first game against the Dallas Mavericks at AT&T Center in San Antonio. The 2015 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 15, 2015, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with the West defeating the East 163–158. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook won the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. The regular season ended on April 15, 2015 and the playoffs began on April 18, 2015 and ended with the 2015 NBA Finals on June 16, 2015, after the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to win their fourth NBA title and first since 1975. The Charlotte Bobcats played their first official game as the Charlotte Hornets since 2002.

The 2015–16 NBA season was the 70th season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 27, 2015, at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, with their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 14, 2016. The regular season ended on April 13, 2016. Golden State's Stephen Curry became the first unanimous MVP in league history. The playoffs started on April 16, 2016, and ended with the 2016 NBA Finals on June 19, 2016, with the Cleveland Cavaliers becoming NBA Champions for the first time in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors in seven games. This would also be the final season for All-Stars Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

The 2016–17 NBA season was the 71st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 25, 2016, with the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers hosting a game against the New York Knicks. The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 19, 2017, with the West defeating the East 192–182. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans was named the All Star Game MVP after breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record by scoring 52 points in the All Star Game. The original host of the game, Charlotte's Spectrum Center, was removed as the host on July 21, 2016, due to the league's opposition against North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The regular season ended on April 12, 2017, and the playoffs began on April 15, 2017, and ended on June 12, 2017, with the Golden State Warriors going 16–1 in the playoffs and beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games during their third consecutive matchup in the NBA Finals. This was the last season for the NBA to use Adidas jerseys. Starting with the 2017-18 NBA season, the jerseys were from Nike. Additionally, Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, and Dwyane Wade with the Chicago Bulls, after playing their entire careers until then with one team.

References

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  17. Bondy, Filip (May 25, 2003). "Visitors Are Feeling Right At Home In Jersey". NYDailyNews.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2020. I've learned everything I need to know about New Jersey," said Scott, who resides in Livingston during the season. "You take 280 to the 'Pike to the arena.
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  40. Robbins, Liz (October 29, 2000). "PRO BASKETBALL; Nets Coach Born to Be A Champion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2020. Scott has always taken his children to school and used to take his oldest son, Thomas, on trips with the Pacers. Thomas, 17, is still in Sacramento for his senior year in high school, hoping to earn a college basketball scholarship. The Scotts' daughter, LonDen, 13, and youngest son, DaRon, 9, have settled into the family's new house in Livingston, N.J., where their father refuses to build a trophy room.
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