EL SEGUNDO, Calif. >> Byron Scott is taking over the Los Angeles Lakers with the vocal support of his fellow Showtime greats.

Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamaal Wilkes attended Tuesday’s introductory news conference for Scott, the 25th head coach in franchise history.

Scott boldly predicted a quick return to NBA title contention for the Lakers, who are coming off their worst season since moving to Los Angeles.

The Lakers spent nearly three months without a head coach before finally hiring Scott, a shooting guard on three Showtime championship teams in the 1980s.

Scott has been a head coach with New Jersey, New Orleans and Cleveland. But the Lakers have always been the ideal job for the Inglewood product who grew up sneaking into the Forum to watch Jerry West.