Los Angeles Lakers: Reevaluating general manager Rob Pelinka

A New Coaching Staff

A few days after Johnson quit, head coach Luke Walton and the team mutually agreed to part ways. Magic admitted he was all set to fire Walton, who was a personal favorite of Jeanie Buss. Luke was almost instantly hired by Sacramento, and Pelinka embarked on his first task as the man in charge, hiring a new coach.

As most fans know, the early candidates were Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams. The Lakers took their time deciding, and Phoenix swooped in and hired Williams to coach the Suns. LA then offered the job to Lue, who didn’t like some of the terms and turned them down.

While Pelinka and the team wiped the egg off their faces, detractors saw it as the beginning of a new era of clueless leadership. It seemed to many that the Lakers were becoming the laughingstock of the NBA.

But Pelinka refused to be deterred and immediately began a new search. This time around, he quickly selected well-respected Frank Vogel, who had a nice run leading Indiana. Vogel happily accepted the position, including the hiring of Jason Kidd and later Lionel Hollins as assistants.

Vogel has a reputation as a fair-minded but demanding coach whose teams play strong defense. He has looked confident and self-assured but not arrogant in press conferences and interviews. At this early juncture, he looks like a winning choice. If not, Pelinka has his choice of replacements already sitting on the Lakers bench.

In the end, although it took multiple attempts, it appears that the Rob Pelinka era got off to a much better start than originally anticipated. But there remained much more work to be done.