The two proud men stood on the Lakers’ practice court, the interaction offering both a glimpse of their relationship and a prediction that became true.

Dissension emerged between then-Lakers coach Pat Riley and Byron Scott during the 1987-88 campaign with the Showtime Lakers. Riley noted “you could feel the tension” as he and Scott clashed over issues Riley believed ranged from Scott’s defense, shooting or effort level in practice.

Scott maintained he “disagreed in a respectful way” about defending a future opponent. But they both offered nearly identical versions on what Riley said next.

“‘One day, you’re going to coach,’” Riley recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles News Group. ‘“You’re going to figure out the hardest thing to do is to get players to do things you want them to do.’”

Scott responded, “You’re out of your damn mind, Riles. I’ll never coach in my life.”

But Riley showed as much clairvoyance as when he guaranteed correctly at the Lakers’ 1987 championship parade that the team would defend its NBA title the following season.

Scott has cemented an extensive coaching career that has included stops with the former New Jersey Nets (2000-04), former New Orleans Hornets (2004-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2010-13) and the Lakers (present).

Riley’s feedback to Scott 27 years ago about the difficulty convincing players to follow a game plan also partly explains why the Lakers (12-25) enter Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers (28-8) at Staples Center amid their worst start in franchise history.

But as the Miami Heat’s president, Riley will likely catch up with Scott either before or after the Lakers host the Heat on Tuesday at Staples Center and offer some perspective with a more comforting touch.

“Byron’s a very good coach,” said Riley, whose nine NBA championships spanning his roles as a player, coach and executive include five titles coaching the Lakers. “They just don’t have the horses right now other than Kobe (Bryant) and a lot of young players in a Western Conference that is really, really tough.”

Amid a relationship centered on tough love and positive mentorship, Scott gushed about Riley’s influence that followed him when he played 11 of his 14 years in the NBA with the Lakers, and his subsequent coaching stints.

“Riles has a special talent in getting the best out of you,” Scott said in an interview with the L.A. News Group. “He challenges you to be the best you can be. I love that about him.”

Proving his worth

Scott has kept a note in his wallet Riley wrote years ago that praises him for “being a warrior.” Scott considered the words significant because he reported Riley “said he’s only given it to certain guys.”

“I pull it out every now and then, especially when I’m going through down times,” Scott said. “It reminds me to just keep doing what I’m doing.“

It took time for Riley to grant Scott respect.

When the Lakers acquired Scott from the former San Diego Clippers a few months after selecting him fourth overall in the 1983 NBA draft, Scott found a locker room unwilling to embrace him. Scott’s new teammates cared little that he grew up in Inglewood, starred at Morningside High and snuck into the Forum to watch their games. The Lakers cared more that Scott’s arrival coincided with losing Norm Nixon, who had helped Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win two of the Lakers’ first five championships in the 1980s.

“It was hard. Byron came in as ‘Baby B.’ He would have to earn everything,” Riley said. “But he took it all in stride. He was always very confident.”

The thought process seemed simple.

“I had to just work my (tail) off,” Scott said. “I didn’t think I needed to try to prove anything. I just thought if I worked my (tail) off, my talents would go up and I would win guys over.”

Although he made the NBA’s All-Rookie First team in the 1983-84 season, Scott averaged only 15 minutes a game in the Lakers’ seven-game series to the Boston Celtics in the 1984 NBA Finals. But in what he considered a “big turning point,” Scott spent his second NBA season ranked first in the league in 3-point shooting (43.3 percent) as the Lakers defeated the Celtics for the first time in the 1985 NBA Finals.

The Lakers won two more NBA titles with Scott serving a key role player, including the 1988 championship team that featured Scott leading the team with a career-high 21.7 points per game.

This all prompted Riley to list off Scott’s various qualities that suggested he would coach.

“Byron was always a very, very smart player. He picked up X’s and O’s really well,” Riley said. “He matured very very quickly under the guidance of Magic and Kareem. So he was prepared.”

Coaching influence

Yet, Scott said he never took Riley’s words seriously until the 1993-94 season, when he played for the Indiana Pacers under former coach Larry Brown. He made similar comments about coaching after Scott detailed various defensive coverages.

Then, Scott started “taking notes” on how he would incorporate Riley’s approach into his own coaching. Scott tried imitating Riley’s work ethic after seeing him countless times on the team plane staying up all night studying film and compiling a scouting report.

Scott estimated that “90 percent” of his practice drills mirror Riley’s. He said his three-hour practices entailed light stretching and warmup drills, an hour of intense scrimmaging and drills, and a half-hour devoted to shooting. Scott would also mimic both Riley’s direct communication style and his sharp wardrobe.

That approach helped Scott guide the Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2002, 2003) and win NBA Coach of the Year honors in New Orleans (2008). Those teams also finished among the NBA’s elite in total defense.

“I made sure we covered every single base to make sure guys couldn’t come back and say, ‘You didn’t show us this or we never saw this before,’” Scott said. “I take a lot of pride to this day where ex-players of mine and those around the league say, ‘Coach Scott’s training camps is one of the toughest, if not the toughest in the NBA.’”

The Lakers said similar things during the exhibition season, but this rebuilding project has proven more difficult than in New Jersey and New Orleans.

Yet, Riley hardly regrets representing one of presumably many Lakers legends that encouraged general manager Mitch Kupchak to hire Scott this offseason after Mike D’Antoni resigned. Just as Riley offered Scott support through e-mails, letters, phone calls and face-to-face contact during both Scott’s rebuilding successes and eventual firings in New Jersey and New Orleans, Riley gave Scott a positive pep talk regarding the Lakers’ current struggles.

“His overall message was to stick to the process and stick to the plan,” Scott said. “He said, ‘I know it’s going to be hard. But you’re doing the right things. It will pay off.’”

Moments of frustration

Yet, Scott finished with a 64-146 record with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was fired in 2013 partly because of Riley. After all, LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami shortly after Scott took the Cavaliers’ coaching job.

“He was heavily involved in trying to keep LeBron there. We were heavily involved in trying to get him out of there,” Riley said. “We were competing against each other at that time.”

The conversations between Scott and Riley became less frequent, though Scott stressed “there were no hard feelings.”

“We go way too far back,” Scott said, “for that to be anything.”

Scott and Riley have weathered other episodes.

It has involved Scott experiencing a serious injury that both Scott and Riley believe cost the Lakers the 1989 NBA championship against the Detroit Pistons.

With the Lakers breezing through the 1989 NBA playoffs with plenty of time before the Finals, Riley reported taking Johnson’s suggestion to have a mini-training camp in Santa Barbara to maximize team conditioning and minimize distractions. During a practice in Detroit, Riley also said he followed Johnson’s suggestion to have a rebounding drill to prepare for the physical Pistons. Scott injured his left hamstring during the exercise, while Johnson eventually injured his left hamstring in Game 2.

Both Scott and Riley blame Scott’s injury more on playing through four NBA Finals in the previous five seasons than the team’s extended training camp.

“I always look back on it and wonder, could I have done something different, like nothing?” Riley said. “But that stuff happens. There’s been a lot written that I ran them into the ground. But those are the breaks of the game.”

Though he understood Riley’s practice approach “100 percent,” Scott reflected back with some regret.

“I wish we didn’t go up there and practice as hard as we did,” Scott said. “But I also wish Detroit would’ve beaten Boston in four games and we wouldn’t have to wait so long.”

The Lakers and Riley parted ways following the 1989-90 season. Riley correctly sensed that Scott represented many players who grew tired of his demanding coaching style.

“I was thinking it was a little too much,” Scott said. “Sometimes it can be overkill. Sometimes you can push guys too far.”

Seeking a balance

Scott’s views on Riley’s intense style has since evolved.

“Now that I’m a coach,” Scott said, “I want to keep pushing, pushing and pushing them to be better as much as possible.”

Yet, Scott conceded he tries to strike a middle ground. After all, Scott’s stern approach toward star Jason Kidd in New Jersey reportedly led to his firing in 2004.

Scott has called out the Lakers for poor play and even changed his starting lineup that involved demoting Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin. But he has praised Boozer and Lin for how they have handled the new role.

Scott has often deferred to Bryant and initially handed him a heavy workload. But Scott has since scaled back Bryant’s minutes and sat him for five games to preserve the Lakers’ 36-year-old star. Scott enjoys bantering with the playful Nick Young. But he also has suggested Young needs to improve his work habits.

“You can’t be anywhere near as demanding as they were back in my days. Guys are not made that way. I try to teeter on understanding what my players’ bodies are going through and being an ex-player myself,” Scott said. “I try to balance that act of trying to figure out how I would feel after three or four days of hard practice. Do I need a day off? I do try to put myself in the mind of these guys and figure out what’s the best for that particular time.”

The results have not followed with the current Lakers. But the man who has constantly challenged Scott also offered a thumbs up.

“He’s handled it very well. His teams play very hard,” Riley said. “But they can’t match up with some of these teams in the West. I think from a coaching standpoint, he’s doing the best job he can do.”

Unlike 27 years ago on the practice floor, Scott fully understands and agrees this time with Riley.