Lakers Coach Byron Scott to miss two games to attend mother’s funeral

Lakers Coach Byron Scott will miss two games this week to attend funeral services for his mother, Dorothy, who died last week at age 72.

Scott will remain in Southern California while the Lakers play Tuesday at Oklahoma City and Wednesday at Minnesota. Assistant coach Paul Pressey will take Scott’s place on the bench.

Scott became emotional Sunday when asked what he would remember about his mother.

“Her strength, courage. My mom was terrific,” he said before the Lakers played Philadelphia at Staples Center. “I don’t want to talk about it any more because you’re going to get me ... let’s leave it at that, all right?”

Scott then politely ended a pregame news conference with reporters and walked into the coach’s office at Staples, brushing away tears.

A minute earlier, Scott said his mother was proud when he was hired last August to coach the Lakers.

“She was pretty happy about that. She had been telling me for years that it would happen,” he said. “She was a big basketball fan so she was really excited about that.”

Scott will rejoin the team for its game Friday at Toronto.