Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lauds Byron Scott for speaking up

A three-time NBA champion with the LA Lakers, Byron Scott was a pivotal player during the Lakers’ Showtime era. He was a shooting guard, who played alongside Magic Johnson at point. He averaged 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in the playoffs during his title years.

Byron Scott stuck around for a couple of seasons after Magic Johnson’s retirement. He was in the public eye during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The riots began after an African American named Rodney King was beaten up by LAPD officers. The beating took place while King was being arrested after a high-speed chase, for driving under the influence.

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Despite substantial evidence, which included a video of the cops beating him for 15 minutes, the jury found the four officers in question not guilty. The acquittal was followed by six days of riots, resulting in 63 deaths and over 2,000 injuries. In an interview, Byron Scott sympathized with the protestors. He said that he understood how they felt, which instantly led to backlash toward him.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discussed the incident in the docuseries "Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers." He gave a glimpse into the situation at the time.

“Back then, the popular consensus was that cops could do no wrong and that racism was an excuse Black people used when they weren’t successful.”

“Every Black person on the Lakers—and across America—understood how the protestors felt: angry, frustrated, unsafe, hopeless. Saying so publicly took a lot of courage, something Byron has in abundance,” wrote Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Byron Scott and the LA Lakers played through the riots

While the city of Los Angeles awaited the verdict of the Rodney King case, the Lakers were in the middle of a first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers. On April 29, 1992, the Lakers hosted the Blazers after losing their first two games at home. And the Rodney King verdict came out four hours before the game.

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The game was tied in the fourth quarter when the announcer issued a warning, directing the crowd away from where the riots had begun.

“When they said, 'Don't go east on Manchester,' I knew what was going on," said former Los Angeles Lakers guard Byron Scott. "The riots had pretty much started."

The LA Lakers ended up winning the game in overtime, despite Clyde Drexler dropping an impressive double-double with 42 points and 12 assists for the Blazers. The Lakers players walked out of their arena to a desolate parking lot, which would usually be filled with fans waiting for autographs.

The next game of the series was shifted to Las Vegas for safety reasons, as the protest went on for days. The Lakers’ season ended with a 26-point loss in Game 4, and Byron Scott was eliminated in the first-round of the playoffs for the first time in his career.