Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: Is Frank Vogel’s job security still stable?

There has been a rash of coaching changes around the NBA for a variety of reasons. Some firings were expected while others were shocking news stories. The Lake Show Life staff started to “Read the room” so to speak and wonder if Frank Vogel’s job is in jeopardy. To the fans that believe the Los Angeles Lakers won’t fire a championship coach…we’ll save you a Google trip. 

Something strange is going on around the NBA. Have you noticed the high number of coaching dismissals that has happened in the last couple of weeks? As of this writing there are six coaching vacancies with more to come by the end of the postseason.

• Portland Trail Blazers fire Terry Stotts after their first round loss to the Denver Nuggets.
• The Orlando Magic move on after the season from Steve Clifford calling it a amicable split.
• The Boston Celtics move Brad Stevens up to President of Basketball Operations after Danny Ainge retires.
• Indiana Pacers fire Nate Bjorkgren after one season of behind the scenes chaos.
• Scott Brooks and the Washington Wizards separate after not coming to agreement on a contract extension.
• Bonus prediction from Lake Show Life: If the Brooklyn Nets win their series over Milwaukee, add Mike Budenholzer to this list. After that Game 5 collapse, he’s good as gone!

But the biggest seismic shock in the NBA coaching ranks was New Orleans Pelicans firing Stan Van Gundy after one year at the helm. Read the statement from David Griffin via ESPN.

"“This was a difficult decision as I have tremendous respect for Stan both personally and professionally, but we agreed it is in the best interest of our team to move forward in a different direction.”"

Even long-time executives were getting fired. After 24 years running the Dallas Mavericks, Donnie Nelson got shown the door.

The next day, Rick Carlisle was dismissed as Dallas Mavericks head coach according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

"Rick Carlisle — who led Dallas to the 2011 NBA championship — informed Mavericks owner Mark Cuban today that he won’t be returning as coach next season, Carlisle told ESPN. Carlisle had two years left on his contract. He spent 13 seasons as Mavericks coach."

This season was not Frank Vogel’s finest hour as he made a ton of mistakes dealing with this roster by way of adjustments and rotations. If you dismiss his disastrous tenure in Orlando, this could have been the worst coaching performance in Frank Vogel’s career.

The Lake Show Life staff wouldn’t even consider discussing this topic if it wasn’t for a strange decision by assistant coach, Jason Kidd.

He took his name OUT of the running for the Portland Trail Blazers job! 

It’s not like he doesn’t want a NBA job folks. He’s scheduled for an interview with the Orlando Magic, a franchise that blew up everything and is starting from square one.

Does anyone see anything strange when Kidd takes his name out of the running for a playoff team where the franchise player in Damian Lillard goes public specifically wanting him to take over to Yahoo! Sports?

"“Jason Kidd is the guy I want,”"

Maybe Kidd sees an opening a few chairs over? See, Frank Vogel is in the final year of his three year deal without a peep of extension talks. Most coaches want to avoid the lame duck status going into the season. Based on how the Lakers imploded at the end with players complaining over playing time over the season, this is a possible ticking time bomb.

Maybe the Lakers are scouting the playoffs for their next coach? Nate McMillan has placed himself as the hottest available coach in the NBA. Remember, he’s an interim coach for the Atlanta Hawks.

Sure there are Los Angeles Lakers fans out there wondering how in the world could Frank Vogel’s job be in jeopardy after leading the team to an NBA title in the bubble? There may be some that thinks this article has no merit because nothing like this has happened before.

Well if you are one of these groups of people, you are showing a glaring lack of knowledge of the history of your team. Lake Show Life will save you a trip to the Google page and give you a history lesson before breaking down why it could happen. Go ahead and hit the purple bar. 

No, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t win all five NBA championships under Pat Riley!

Remember Magic Johnson’s rookie year in Game 6 when he lined up to play center replacing the “Captain” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who was trying to get ready for Game 7?

Remember the shock from the media that pretty much thought it was a foregone conclusion that the Sixers led by Julius Erving would blow them out?

Only the Lakers went on to win the NBA title behind Magic Johnson’s iconic stat line of 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Pat Riley was looking on the Lakers bench as…the ASSISTANT COACH!

The head coach at the time was Paul Westhead, who filled in for the late Jack McKinney who suffered a bicycle accident. McKinney’s offense was uptempo that suited Magic just fine.

After the NBA title, these chain of events happened that shows that championships and basketball schemes are not enough.

• Magic Johnson started his infamous relationship with the late Dr. Jerry Buss.
• He signed a 25-year $25 million dollar contract.
• He became the face of the franchise (Kareem was the best player, but Magic sold the tickets and along with Larry Bird saved the NBA!) 

Paul Westhead the next year decided to change the offense to run through Kareem Abdul-Jabbar instead of the uptempo offense that would eventually turn into “Showtime”. Magic wasn’t happy about it and his play showed that fact.

After Westhead had a discussion with Johnson about his “lack of concentration”, Magic Johnson went straight to the press, criticized Westhead’s system and demanded to be traded.

Soon after, Paul Westhead was fired after Dr. Buss called that infamous press conference to hire  Jerry West and Pat Riley as co-coaches. One was supposed to take care of the offense, while the other dealt with the defense. Jerry West said no and took up the GM duties and the Lakers swept up four more NBA titles dominating the 80’s with the Boston Celtics under Pat Riley.

Now that Lake Show Life has your attention, the next several pages will show how Frank Vogel might be on the hot seat and could be fired. See he committed the same mistakes as the coaches that were fired previously were guilty of.

Ready? Let’s get to it.

Steve Clifford had the same defensive philosophies as Frank Vogel! Defense first and figure out the offense…well whenever!

Orlando brought in Steve Clifford ahead of the 2018-19 season after his release from the Charlotte Hornets. Clifford led the team to 42-40 and 33-40 records in his first two seasons with the Magic, both good enough to land Orlando in the playoffs.

During his tenure with Charlotte and Orlando, the two teams had four postseason berths in his eight years running both teams. Here’s the issue, no team was in any danger of being a championship contender. Despite having veteran talent and a couple of All-Stars, most playoffs performances ended in first round defeats.

Why? Clifford’s teams had no real offensive structure and had to grind it out on the defensive end to win close games. Does this sound familiar?

This works just fine in the regular season when you have bottom feeders like Minnesota, Sacramento and other perennial bad teams who can’t score. The playoffs allow better teams to exploit that weakness.

By the time Orlando traded away their high-profile players such as Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic at the trading deadline, their defense was still strong (Look they almost beat the Lakers twice!), but they couldn’t score at crucial times and lost.

Frank Vogel comparison:

Stop for a second and think back on how many times you heard the tired old line…“The Los Angeles Lakers are the number one rated defense in the NBA”?  Announcers carried that to the season finale in Game 6.

Until, one of the top rated offenses in the NBA featuring Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul and Devin Booker barbecued them and exposed their weaknesses.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1400663397939642372

On offense, the Lakers struggled without an offensive scheme other than rolling the ball to LeBron James to be the “playmaker”.

Lake Show Life has been all over Dennis Schroder for his contract situation. But there really hasn’t been any criticism about how he ran the Lakers offense. Why?

The Los Angeles Lakers depend on LeBron to make all of the decisions.

Frank Vogel’s lack of offensive acumen could get him fired. When LeBron went down with his ankle issues, the offense plummeted. Talent is needed, but structure and multiple schemes are more important.

The Los Angeles Lakers struggled with injuries this season but Rob Pelinka gave Frank Vogel enough to work with to get at least to the second round. Remember, the Lakers were 21-6 with the same roster right? Vogel mismanaged the roster after the buyout market closed. Read on to see how and who Lake Show Life compares him to.

Stan Van Gundy had a talented roster but didn’t make the proper adjustments to help them succeed!

This statement from Pelicans’ executive David Griffin basically describes what Lake Show Life would say to readers all season long…a lot more polite than some of us!

"“We know this is a process and it takes time. But we also have to take a look at ourselves, front office, coaching, players. Is what we are doing working? Are we doing enough for the group to create winning? That’s what our focus is going to be.”"

The Lake Show Life Lessons staff spent so many late night pointing out issues and pitfalls for the Los Angeles Lakers as far back as the preseason. Most of the comments would be ignored especially when the team was 21-6. Comments like…

• They’re the champs and are winning! Stop hating…
• They are still implementing the players into the new system (Now we know there wasn’t one!)
• After Anthony Davis got hurt: Wait until AD gets back…things will be fine.
• After LeBron James gets hurt: Wait until LeBron gets back…things will be fine.
• We’re just getting ready for the playoffs, no team want to face us…

The Pelicans with Stan Van Gundy had the same issues as the Los Angeles Lakers. They just let go of the rope about three weeks before the Lake Show. Van Gundy did not find the proper rotations with the talent he had.

Frank Vogel comparison:

The second Andre Drummond got into the fold, we now see the team chemistry was blown up. Montrezl Harrell, who was probably the hardest worker on the team started collecting DNP-CDs (Did not play…coaches decision) like the ones you have color coordinated next to your old CD/radio player. A huge collapse to the Dallas Mavericks on national TV when Harrell was benched put the Lakers in a spiral that led the team to the play-in tournament.

•    Los Angeles Lakers get swept in two game series with Dallas Mavericks

It was this game on April 25th that this writer knew the Lakers would not get out of the first round. (Click on the article and head to the comments! Internet is forever!). Frank Vogel refused to maximize his three center rotation for specific situations. His in game adjustments were horrid.

Harrell and Marc Gasol could have been assets to finish out the season, but Vogel’s insistence to play Andre Drummond when the matchups didn’t favor the Lakers doomed the season.

If the above statement rubs you the wrong way, why did Drummond get benched in the last game of the season? Just a thought.

The Los Angeles Lakers did end their season in a frustrating way. It was plain to see that the roster was not as focused as the championship team (Kyle Kuzma, yes Lake Show Life is talking about you!) and appeared to let go of the rope. Some players took to social media to express their frustrations while other went to the media.

If things continue on next year if the team decides to run the roster back, hopefully things won’t turn out like this recently fired coach. Hopefully…Read on… 

Nate Bjorkgren lost control of his team and soon after the season imploded!

Have you ever just looked at pictures like these and wonder what actually happened? Well, what happened in this picture was a technicolored example of what can happen when the head coach loses complete control of the locker room.

Press play…

As bad as it looks when an assistant coach and a player is separated by players and coaches alike, Bjorkgren had already done irreparable damage alienating so many in the organization. Was Vogel this bad? No (But can anyone screw up to this level?), but the frustration was mounting.

Frank Vogel comparison:

During the championship year, the roster 1-15 was focused on winning a NBA championship. Even players like Troy Daniels, who was let go showed their appreciation and class. This year? Not so much.

• Dwight Howard first goes to the media with a quote stating he wouldn’t go through another year without getting paid. Then he makes an announcement of Twitter that he is returning…then he goes to Philly.
• Markieff Morris complains about playing time.
• Marc Gasol goes to the media about his role when Andre Drummond is signed. It was rumored that he wanted to be bought out.
• Kyle Kuzma told the media he was confused about his role…when the Lakers was rolling through the NBA to start the season!
• Montrezl Harrell voiced his displeasure about benchings in his own way. Since Trezl uses strong language…read here. Something about wasting time?

The most telling situation with Frank Vogel was when LeBron James was not attending games when he was out with an ankle injury. When asked why, Vogel could not give an answer. How can the coach not know about the status of his best players? Disconnect?

By the end of the season, LeBron was leaving games noticeably early before the final buzzer. Could we getting back to these days if the Lakers start slow next year?

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1107320952755548162

Think this is not a problem? Let’s relive the Rick Carlisle situation with his relationship with his star Luka Doncic via ESPN’s Tim McMahon.

"There had been simmering tension between Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle that was a concern within the Mavs organization. The expectation was that he’d return next season, but he’d have been on the hot seat."

So let’s ask the $64 dollar question…

Who knows? We all know that Rob Pelinka does not talk!

Most Los Angeles Lakers fans may blow this article off as a hot take article known for the “summer quota”. Well you’d be wrong. Remember, Frank Vogel was the fourth choice on the Lakers wish list. Taking the point further, most didn’t know that he was even ON the list!

• Monty Williams was first on the list. He turned the job down after getting a better offer from Phoenix.
• Ty Lue was second on the list. The Lakers did not want to give him the five year deal that was standard for head coaches. He went back to the Clippers bench under Doc Rivers before eventually replacing him.
• Jason Kidd was reportedly wanted by many in the organization. When that got out, his off the court issues in the past kept coming up. He was offered the assistant coach job. 

Frank Vogel was hired, but he didn’t get to pick his own staff. The Lakers did that as well. Hence, Vogel does not have the power of most NBA head coaches.

Is his job safe? Not if that extension doesn’t get signed in the offseason. Lame duck status does not work well for coaches in Lakers Nation. It sets up speculation and drama.

Ask Luke Walton.