EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- It was his desire to finish his NBA playing career with a ring that brought him back to Los Angeles.

True, other teams at that time offered more money, guaranteed more minutes and promised a higher profile. But Byron Scott signed a non-guaranteed contract at the NBA minimum -- $247,500 -- in part so he could play at home.

	Bryon Scott watched over the Nets' first practice in L.A. on Tuesday.

And, more importantly, to play next to the then-newly acquired Shaquille O'Neal.

"For me to be able to come back here and end my career and have a chance to win a championship," Scott said at the time, "well, there was no other place for me."

At that time, in 1996, Scott -- already owning three rings with the Lakers -- felt he could help Shaq win his first championship. Scott's challenge today: preventing Shaq from a three-peat, while at the same time winning his first NBA title as a coach with the New Jersey Nets.

The task, for the Nets, is difficult. Many consider it unattainable. And Scott is relishing the challenge of coaching a team that few give a chance to win.

"I know we are the biggest underdogs in the history of the NBA Finals, and once (the Nets) heard that they started smiling," Scott said. "They think that's fantastic. We enjoy this role. We're going to go out and try to prove everybody wrong again."

If the Nets assume the personality of their coach, they won't lack confidence. In 14 years as a player and two years as coach in New Jersey, Scott has gained a reputation as a guy not afraid to speak his mind.

Earlier this season, he exchanged heated words with Jazz forward Karl Malone. And when he finished third for the Coach of the Year award, Scott's politically incorrect response -- "I deserved it" -- was probably what many coaches in the past wanted to say, but never dared to admit.

"I've always shot straight from the hip," Scott said. "I think our team has taken on my personality as I don't back down from anybody and I say what I feel."

The fourth pick of the 1983 draft out of Arizona State, Scott was a member of three Laker title teams in 1985, 1987 and 1988. Scott was so much a part of the Showtime Lakers that when the team opted not to re-sign him in the summer of 1993, Jerry West called it one of his most difficult decisions as general manager.

After two years in Indiana and one in Vancouver, Scott finished his NBA career with the Lakers during the 1996-97 season. While the Lakers didn't win a title that season, Scott made an impression as a mentor to a fresh-out-of-high-school rookie named Kobe Bryant. It was such an impression that Bryant singled out Scott for praise soon after the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals.

"I always looked up to Byron, even when I was a little kid, because of his championship experience," Bryant said Tuesday. "Since the first day, I felt I knew him because I had been following his career all along. He helped me out from Day 1, always encouraging me, always pushing me to do my best in practice."

Scott recalls that he knew there was something special about Bryant from their first meeting.

	“	It's going to be very emotional until the ball is thrown up. It's then that I'll know we're not friends anymore, that we're basically enemies and opponents until this series is over. ”
		— Byron Scott

"He had a vision about becoming the best," Scott said. "The first thing he told me was 'I want to be the best player in this league.' "

"He was at practice two hours before everybody else," Scott added. "I was old, so I had to get there early to get treatment. And this kid is out there bouncing the ball in the dark."

Scott had visions of being the same type of dominant player as a kid growing up in Inglewood, when he used to sneak into games at the Forum -- the Lakers' old home. While taking his Nets into the Staples Center is a different experience, Scott was almost giddy as he described what it's like coaching a team in the NBA Finals in his hometown.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook, going against an organization that I feel, especially when Jerry West was here, was the best organization in basketball," Scott said. "It's going to be very emotional until the ball is thrown up. It's then that I'll know we're not friends anymore, that we're basically enemies and opponents until this series is over."

Over? Some people think this series is over even before it gets started. But Scott -- who showed the team his three championship rings prior to the start of the season -- has over the last few days been making his Nets believe that the impossible is, indeed, possible.

"Nobody is picking us," Scott said. "Watching Sacramento play, I feel we are a much better defensive team than Sacramento -- and they took the Lakers to seven games."

"We've played extremely well on defense throughout the playoffs and we're going to continue to do that," Scott added. "Do we feel like we have a good chance of winning this series?

"Yes, we do."

Jerry Bembry is general editor (NBA) at ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at Jerry.Bembry@espnpub.com.