The Los Angeles Lakers had better make sure the phones/computers are charged to talk to Lionel Hollins. They need him!
Lake Show Life mentioned earlier that the team dodged a huge bullet when Dwight Howard figured out his situations to join the team in Orlando. Before the June 24th deadline, Avery Bradley decided to opt-out based on the COVID-19 concerns for his six-year-old son, Liam, who was possibly going to red-flagged because of his underlying health concerns.
Lake Show Life broke down how the Lakers could live with Avery Bradley, but not without Dwight Howard.
- Los Angeles Lakers: Losing Dwight Howard is worse than Avery Bradley!
- Los Angeles Lakers: 2 players that benefit from Avery Bradley’s absence!
- The Los Angeles Lakers are in big trouble if Dwight Howard opts out!
The Lakers will be without assistant coach Lionel Hollins in Orlando, Florida for the restart to the NBA season according to ESPN‘s Dave McMenamin last Friday.
Due to underlying medical conditions, Hollins was deemed a higher-risk individual. Despite the fact he will not be present in Orlando but will be an essential member of the team and communicate with Frank Vogel and the staff remotely.
Frank Vogel discussed the possibility before the announcement was made.
"“There are several members of our staff that we’re not going to be able to bring into the bubble that, quite frankly, we need in the bubble,” Vogel told reporters Thursday. “But the environment just doesn’t allow us to do that and that’s just part of the pandemic life and the situation we’re in.”"
This is a big deal. Bigger than most people realize. A lot of basketball pundits looked at the Vogel hire and rolled their eyes knowing that he was the third option after Monty Williams went to Phoenix and Tyronn Lue stayed on Doc Rivers staff with the Clippers.
It was a lot worse when the Lakers signed Jason Kidd to be an assistant coach. The Lake Show Life staff were making bets on how long it would take Kidd to undermine Vogel and take over the job.
After Rob Pelinka surrounded Vogel with Phil Handy and Hollins, all of the rumors stopped and the bets were quickly canceled. Lionel Hollins is that old school coach that this veteran-laden team needs.
Oh by the way. Bring along three months worth of weekly “Wish you were here” cards. Around playoff time, it won’t be a lie.