Content warning: This article contains depictions of alleged sexual assault.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard and head coach Byron Scott was accused of sexually assaulting a teenager in 1987 in a new lawsuit that was amended earlier this month.
A woman filed a lawsuit against Scott in December 2022, alleging that he sexually assaulted her during a team event at her high school nearly four decades ago when he was a member of the Lakers. Scott had fought to keep his name off the court documents initially, according to The Associated Press, and he was initially identified as “John Doe.”
A judge denied his request in August, however, which is why he is now being named publicly for the first time. The lawsuit was then amended officially on May 1.
According to the lawsuit, the incident took place in 1987 when Scott was 26 and the alleged victim was 15. The woman, who was not named in the report, was taking classes at Campbell Hall High School in Los Angeles when the Lakers came to visit for a team event. That’s when she said that Scott sexually assaulted her “in a locked janitor’s closet in the high school gymnasium.”
Scott’s attorney did not deny that sexual contact occurred between him and the victim, but said that he believed the victim was of legal age at the time.
“Our client is devastated by this complaint,” Scott’s attorney, Linda Bauermeister, said in a statement Wednesday, via The Associated Press. “Our client believed the plaintiff to be over 18 and had no idea she would claim otherwise until 35 years later. He respects girls and women, and the claims have blindsided him and his family.”
The lawsuit was filed under a California state law that allows for older cases to be filed for underage plaintiffs, per the report. It also named the high school, claiming that school officials were negligent in their duties to protect the student from harm. The woman is seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
Scott spent 14 seasons in the league, all but three of which were with the Lakers. He helped the team win three NBA titles early in his career with the “Showtime” Lakers, and then briefly held stints with the Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies before he left the league after the 1996-97 campaign.
Scott was hired as the head coach of the New Jersey Nets in 2000, and he led the franchise to a pair of NBA Finals appearances. He later led the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers briefly from 2014-16. In total, he compiled a 454-647 record as a coach in the league. He was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year during the 2007-08 campaign with the Hornets, too. Scott is currently coaching in the Philippines.
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