Things are looking down for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, they’ve lost their last 2 games against teams that are fighting them in the standings for the play-in spots. Their last game against the New Orleans Pelicans was an embarrassing blowout and it saw the Lakers get booed in their home arena by their fans.
Frank Vogel’s job has been under pressure for large parts of this season thanks to their poor performances but after their inactivity at the trade deadline, it doesn’t look like LA is planning on making any drastic changes to their roster or coaching staff. Having said that, no team environment is good when they’re losing and some of the cracks have begun to show for the Lakers.
Assistant coach Phil Handy had his faux pas after the New Orleans loss, liking a post on Instagram by Kendrick Perkins that he possibly shouldn’t have liked. It was a post calling out the players for their lack of effort and taking away blame from the coaching staff and it was spotted by NBA Redditor u/BurnerBurnerBurns20.
“The Lakers should be ashamed of themselves! You can’t blame Vogel for that disturbing performance, carry on.”
“ALL BS aside the Lakers are disrespecting the game of basketball right now! That bad body language and careless basketball ain’t it. Show some type of pride and respect for the game! Carry on…”
This is an issue for the Lakers as it’s hard to imagine that the players are too pleased to see the coaching staff like posts that are absolving them of blame. There are reported tensions behind the scenes but something like this going out to the public is unlikely to improve the morale in the dressing room. The Lakers will play the Mavericks the next and a win is necessary for them to improve the mood around the franchise.
