Byron Scott will not return to coach the Los Angeles Lakers next season, the team announced late Sunday night.
Scott coached the Lakers for the two worst seasons in the 16-time NBA champion franchise’s history, going 38-126. The Lakers are making another break from the Kobe Bryant era by firing the coach who shepherded the superstar guard’s farewell season, but couldn’t coax many wins out of the roster.
Los Angeles finished with the NBA’s second-worst record at 17-65 this season, losing four more games than in their previous franchise-worst season in 2014/15.
“We would like to thank Byron for his hard work, dedication and loyalty over the last two years, but have decided it is in the best interest of the organisation to make a change at this time,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement.
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Scott understood that his job was in jeopardy last week. He won three NBA titles as the shooting guard for the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, playing alongside Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy on some of the greatest teams in league history.
“This is my dream job, and obviously you want the opportunity to turn it all around,” Scott said. “But I understand the business of basketball, and it’s all about wins and losses.”
Scott received praise from Kupchak last week for his handling of the final months for Bryant, who was Scott’s teammate during his rookie season with the Lakers 20 years ago. Bryant scored 60 points in his final game April 13, a win over Utah.
But the Lakers struggled to play competent defence or to put together coherent game plans over the past two seasons with a roster of youngsters and veterans.
Scott had two seasons with team options left on his contract.
The Lakers are now looking for their fifth head coach since Phil Jackson left in 2011. Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni were fired before Scott, with interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff also getting a short run.
The Lakers’ new coach will inherit a young, patchwork roster with a core of intriguing talent. The Lakers will keep their high draft pick if they finish in the top three of the NBA draft lottery next month and will also have more than $40 million (Dh147m) in salary cap room to offer free agents, and Scott’s absence could help there as well.
The once-glamorous franchise has been incredibly unsuccessful in attracting or keeping marquee free agents over the past four seasons, even losing Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol to other teams for relatively modest contracts. But the departures of Bryant and Scott with the installation of a credible head coach could prove more enticing to stars interested in the added benefits of playing in the Hollywood spotlight.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
