Lakers assistant coach Paul Pressey ready to assume head coaching duties

With Lakers head coach Byron Scott leaving the team on Tuesday and Wednesday to grieve the passing of his mother, assistant coach Paul Pressey will coach the team against Oklahoma City and Minnesota.

“He knows me and the players know him,” Scott said Monday at practice. “Paul will do a great job and he’ll be demanding just like I am.”

Pressey was not made available to the media on Monday but will make his first comments Tuesday at the team’s shootaround. Scott said the decision was an easy one considering Pressey has been his lead assistant his previous seven seasons as head coach.

“He will ask them to play extremely hard every single night and he’ll get the best out of them,” Scott added.

My colleague Mark Medina did an excellent feature on Pressey in February that is worth revisiting.