Frank Vogel: 5%
At certain points in the season, Frank Vogel has received fair criticism. But it’s been overwhelmingly unfair criticism given what he has to work with outside of the greatness of LeBron James.
I firmly believe Vogel solidified himself as at least an upper-half coach in the 2020 title run. The head coaching depth may not be the most impressive in this league after the obvious top guys, but still, I’m not sure if firing him ensures helping the cause at all.
When Vogel is heavily criticized I think people forget the overachievement in those Indiana Pacer teams of nearly a decade ago. Yes, they had a rising Paul George and a solidified frontcourt but not one superstar and a team that was predicated on playing great team basketball. Alla: needed sound coaching.
He goes to the Los Angeles Lakers after many others are considered and passed on first. And as aforementioned, like LeBron wanted it should’ve been a superior Ty Lue at the helm. He’s having an incredibly impressive season across town, another personal Lakers blow of 2022. But, he took the job with a lot of skepticism and a lot more eyeballs on him than in Indiana. Then he won the title immediately.
Vogel took a lot of you-know-what this year and maybe made poor adjustments at times. But overall when passionate Laker lovers have been showering hate during these embarrassing failures, unnecessary strays at Vogel don’t seem right with everything else systematically and internally wrong with the organization right now.