Frank Vogel’s position as Head Coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has looked shaky all season and as more reports continue to come out, the situation continues to seem more and more untenable. The franchise is expected to move on from Vogel in the offseason but it does raise the question of what happens if the next coach isn’t able to achieve better results with the squad.
While Vogel has certainly not been able to motivate this group during the season, it doesn’t seem like the players have been putting in the effort necessary to win at the highest level either. The criticism that was most often aimed at the team throughout the season was a lack of energy and cohesion and the latest report from the Los Angeles Times is not a great look for the players either.
The report states that opposing scouts allegedly noticed that the players just didn’t listen to instructions from the coaching staff at points during games in this campaign.
“Nothing ever felt settled, the ground underneath the team’s feet constantly shifting in an effort to find the right move that would save them,” wrote Dan Woike and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “Opposing scouts said they saw Lakers players ignoring their coaches’ instruction.”
There is a disconnect between the coaching staff and the players, which is somewhat understandable after they lost members like Jason Kidd and Jared Dudley as locker-room influences over the offseason. The players don’t seem too thrilled in general either, as AD recently spoke about the number of starting line-ups the Lakers played this season.
What this all amounts to is anyone’s guess. There is no one answer to the problems the Lakers have faced this season, but they will surely try to enact some solutions over the summer. Whether the coaches are still here or not remains to be seen, but if they are let go, the onus remains on the players to ensure that another season like this doesn’t happen again.
