Lakers’ Byron Scott adamant about fining Nick Young

Lakers#0 Nick Young shoots over Nuggets#7 J.J. Hickson in the 4th quarter. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-96 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA February 10, 2015.  (Photos by John McCoy / Los Angeles Daily News)

Lakers#0 Nick Young shoots over Nuggets#7 J.J. Hickson in the 4th quarter. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-96 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA February 10, 2015. (Photos by John McCoy / Los Angeles Daily News)

Back when he led the Lakers in scoring and his infectious personality became a bright spot in an otherwise dour season, Nick Young confidently sported black sunglasses in the locker room. A Lakers official warned him to take off his glasses to prevent the NBA from fining him for breaking the league’s mandated dress code during post-game interviews.

“Swaggy P don’t get fined,” Young said with laughter.

But a year after saying those words, Young has gotten fined. Plenty of times. He already has sparked $2,000 NBA-imposed fines each of his five technical fouls he accumulated through this season. Lakers coach Byron Scott also will fine Young around $1,500 for arriving to Staples Center about 68 minutes before tipoff of the Lakers’ eventual 106-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday at Staples Center.

“He was late,” Scott said afterwards. “Simple as that.”

Young looked upset and sounded annoyed when Scott called him out during a pre-game interview with several reporters that entailed touching on the trivial (a dolphin apparently nearly killed Young) and the significant (Young invited 60 kids to the game as part of Brotherhood Crusade).

“He tried to sneak in a couple of times,” Scott said. “That didn’t work. He’s been fined a few times. I don’t discriminate. If you’re late, you’re fine. It doesn’t matter who you are. Rules are pretty simple.”

Yet, everything surrounding Young hardly seems simple.

This past month, Young has become riddled with too many things to count. He shot 32 percent from the field. Young missed two games because of a sprained right ankle. Scott benched Young in the second half of one game because of his attitude. Scott sat Young for another game because he wanted Young to complete a practice despite receiving medical clearance to play.

Young arrived at Staples Center on Tuesday sporting a sweatshirt with the word “Romantic,” an ode both to Valentine’s Day and his recent contention he needs some “love.” Yet, Young still scored 12 points on only 4-of-13 shooting with four rebounds and four fouls.

“A little bit better,” Scott said. “He’s still not shooting it as well as we know he can. He did a better job defensively. Hopefully hes’ coming out of it. He’s lost some of that confidence. He has to get that back. Once he does, he’ll get back to being the Nick we all know and love.”

Yet, that has not happened, prompting Scott to chuckle on what Young’s mindset seems as he weathers issues ranging from a shooting slump, a temper with officials and tardiness.

“You’re asking me where Nicks’s mind is?” Scott said, laughing. “I don’t want to get into where Nick’s mind is. I don’t want to know. I want him to get back into playing basketball the way he’s capable of playing.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com