3. Frank Vogel has already proven that he can be a great head coach when it matters most
This is the point that should be the most upsetting for Frank Vogel. Sports fans have memories of a goldfish. The sports world is all about “what have you done for me lately?” and that is the main reason why Frank Vogel has been the fall guy for all these problems that are not necessarily his doing.
It hasn’t even been a year and a half since the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Championship in the 2020 NBA bubble. Say what you will about how well Anthony Davis and LeBron James played in those playoffs. Frank Vogel coached his butt off.
Vogel made all of the right adjustments with the rotation and deciding when to play guys and for how long. He played Dwight Howard as an instigator just to get under Nikola Jokic’s skin, he went small when he needed to, big when he needed to other times. The Lakers lost both Game 1 to the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets and then gentleman swept them because of the adjustments they made.
Heck, in a year that was plagued with injuries that kept the team from having true cohesion last year the Lakers were up 2-1 against the Phoenix Suns, who went on to represent the West in the NBA Finals. If Anthony Davis does not get hurt then we are probably looking back on back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Quality, championship-winning coaches are so hard to find in this league and the idea that the Lakers will fire the coach that just led them to a title 15 months ago because they gave him a horrible team that is .500 halfway through the year just does not make much sense.
But hey, I get it. There always has to be a fall guy. When the Lakers inevitably fire Vogel the fans that want him out better hope they find someone great in the offseason. It won’t really matter, though, as the team will be mostly the same with Westbrook’s contract and then we will all realize it was not Vogel’s fault at all.