A little over a week ago the Los Angeles Lakers were in the middle of a deluge of rumors and reports that the team would be pursuing the soon-to-be-fired Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to replace Byron Scott as head coach. The next day, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak went on the radio to offer a strong public endorsement of Scott.

This was not the only support Scott received. According to Bill Plaschke's most recent column, Lakers owner Jim Buss "called and endorsed Scott personally" to let the coach know there was nothing to the rumors.

It always seemed unlikely that Scott would be let go after just one year at the helm of the Lakers, especially after the team chose him to represent them at the 2015 NBA Lottery. For his part, Scott does not sound like he was worried about the rumors, telling Plaschke "I know how this league is...I'm not going to sweat things that are out of my control."

One thing that is in Scott's control is attempting to improve a Lakers' defense that ranked 29th out of 30 NBA teams in defensive efficiency. The defensive minded head coach will have to do this while integrating new rookies, Julius Randle, a returning Kobe Bryant, and whichever free agents the front office signs during the offseason. If Scott can make meaningful improvement to the Lakers defense even with all of those new variables thrown into the mix, then rumors about his job status will surely be less prevalent in the 2016 offseason.