Lakers Reportedly Set to Part Ways With Head Coach Frank Vogel – NBC Los Angeles

on Apr11
by | Comments Off on Lakers Reportedly Set to Part Ways With Head Coach Frank Vogel – NBC Los Angeles |

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to part ways with head coach Frank Vogel according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Per the report, the Lakers front office, led by general manager Rob Pelinka, is expected to tell Vogel he is not returning on Monday when the team returns to Los Angeles for exit interviews.

Vogel is clearly the scapegoat for arguably the most disappointing season in Lakers history.

After acquiring former MVP Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony last summer, the Lakers were the early favorites to win the NBA title. But injuries, lack of cohesion, and an aging roster led to a record of 33-49 and the team finished in 11th place in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs and play-in tournament entirely.

Although reports were that LeBron James and Anthony Davis had more to do with the Lakers 2021-22 roster construction than Vogel did, it is still the head coach who will take the fall after this disastrous season.

If indeed Vogel has coached his final game, he finishes with a record of 127-98 in his three seasons as head coach, winning the NBA Championship with the Lakers in 2020.

James missed 26 games this season, and Davis has missed 78 games over the past two seasons.

Vogel, a defensive-minded coach who had the Lakers finishing third in defensive rating in 2019-20, and first in 2020-21, ranked 21st this season.

Injuries and a consistent roster were a constant challenge for Vogel this season. He had over 40 different starting lineups, and not a single five-man lineup was able to play more than 100 minutes together on the court, the only team in the NBA with that little amount of time together according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The “Big Three” of James, Davis, and Westbrook as it was known, was only able to play 21 games together, finishing 11-10 in those games. The Lakers were still in playoff contention at the All-Star break, but lost 18 of their last 24 games, sinking to the bottom of the standings. Only three other teams in the entirety of the NBA had a worse record after the All-Star break than the Lakers.

Wojanrowski’s tweet came seconds after the Lakers 146-141 come-from-behind victory over the Denver Nuggets in the season finale on Sunday. The Lakers trailed the Nuggets by nine points with a minute remaining, but tied the game with 06.4 remaining thanks to Austin Reaves steal and coast-to-coast layup.

After the game, when asked about the reports that he has coached his last game with the Lakers, Vogel said “I haven’t been told s—, and I’m going to enjoy tonight’s game. And I’ll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.”

The Lakers search for a new coach will likely be lengthy and exhausting, especially after they passed up opportunities to sign current Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams and Clippers’ head coach Ty Lue back in 2019.

Below are the current odds on who will be the Lakers coach for the 2022-23 season courtesy of Sports Betting AG.



Previous postSupply Chains Tainted by Forced Labor in China, Panel Told Next postNio, Veru, Sailpoint Technologies and more


Los Angeles Financial times


Copyright © 2024 Los Angeles Financial times

Updates via RSS
or Email