It only took a few minutes after Sunday’s season finale for news to break of Frank Vogel’s firing by the Lakers.
After three seasons with the franchise (one of which ended with a Championship), he is getting canned for his role in leading the team to an 11th place standing in the West.
As the NBA world reacted to the story, Charles Barkley came to his defense on ‘Inside the NBA.’
“Whoever put these old a** geezers together, they deserve the lion’s share. They’ve scapegoated Frank and Russ all year. But this team, I told you from day one, the only chance this team got of being competitive is Anthony Davis. And clearly, he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do. But to blame Frank and Russ for putting this old a** team together…”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1513378413884547079
At firsts glance, it’s easy to point the finger at Vogel. It’s his job to translate talent into wins, and he failed to bring the team together.
But his campaign may have been ruined from the start. Earlier this month, it was reported that players would text in the middle of games, with Frank Vogel right in front of their faces. Even worse, Russell Westbrook apparently never respected his vision or authority.
Problems arose for the Lakers behind closed doors during training camp, with team staff members seeing their worst fears realized before the team played a game.
“Russ [Westbrook) never respected Frank [Vogel] from Day 1,” said one Lakers staff member with knowledge of the situation. “The moment Frank said anybody who gets the rebound can bring it up the court, which is just how the NBA is played these days, Russ was like, ‘Naw, I’m the point guard. Give the ball to me. Everybody run. Frank was like, ‘No, we have Talen [Horton-Tucker)] We have Austin [Reaves]. We have Malik. We have LeBron. We have AD. They can all bring the ball up.’ He was like, ‘Nope, I’m the point guard. Give me that s—. Everybody get out the way.’
On every front, the Lakers were an unmitigated disaster. What started off as hopeful optimism became a battle to avoid humiliation. In the end, everybody lost.
Frank Vogel, who is now likely jobless, wasn’t even given the opportunity to enjoy his last win. At least next year, he’ll be impossible to blame for when/if things go wrong.
