Emmanuel Mudiay throws the Lakers coach's criticism back in his face

On Tuesday Emmanuel Mudiay became the latest NBA player to make Byron Scott look foolish. Just one day after being told that the Lakers head coach wasn't a fan of his playmaking skills, Mudiay responded with a 12-point, 10-assist effort in the Nuggets' 120-109 road win over the Lakers.

"Thank you, Byron Scott, for saying I'm not a point guard," Mudiay said after the game, via Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. With the win the Nuggets improved to 2-2, while the Lakers fell to 0-4.

Before Tuesday's game Scott was asked why the Lakers had elected to take Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell with the No. 2 pick, despite working Mudiay out twice before the draft.

"I didn't think he was a true point guard," Scott said of Mudiay, via the Los Angeles Daily News. "I didn't think he was a guy who made great decisions when we saw him and had him here. I thought that was something he would have to learn to do to run that position."

Mudiay, who reneged on his commitment to play for Larry Brown at Southern Methodist University and instead went to China, wound up falling to the Nuggets at No. 7. Through four games this season he's averaging 12.5 points, 6.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds and shooting 31 percent from the field.

"That's another human's opinion," Mudiay said before Tuesday's game of Scott's comments. "I'm not worried about him. I just have to worry about what I do and worry about the Denver Nuggets."

Added Mudiay: "They passed up on me; that's definitely a motivation. They took another point guard ahead of me. I'm a point guard. So I guess they saw something in [Russell] that they didn't see in me."

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