Frank Vogel sort of fell into this head coaching job with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team was initially ready to hire Tyronn Lue to the position before talks fell through over the specifics of the contract. The Lakers have moved past that embarrassing moment, and they’ve done so by putting Vogel at the helm.
Frank Vogel comes to the Lakers after taking a full season off of coaching following his firing from the Orlando Magic during the 2017-18 season. Before his one-and-a-half years with the Magic, Vogel was more famously known for coaching the Indiana Pacers. There he coached many talented players, including Paul George, Roy Hibbert, and Danny Granger.
However, Vogel says during his handful of years coaching, he might be getting ready to coach the two best players he has ever coached. Those two players are, of course, Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Vogel had this to say in an interview with Steve Aschburner/NBA.com:
*On LeBron James and Anthony Davis*
Talent-wise, they’re the two best players I’ll ever have had the opportunity to coach. That brings a lot of fun, a lot of excitement to what we’re able to do on the court. It brings a lot of challenges too. You have to make sure you’re managing them the right way and putting them in the right positions to feel good about their roles and what’s happening around them. There are challenges involved with that. So I’m looking forward to how that all is going to play out.
It’s interesting that Vogel pivots immediately from praising LeBron and Davis to talking about how it will be a challenge. He’s not wrong, as it may take him time to figure out the best lineups to use throughout a game to fully maximize the potential of having LeBron and Davis on your team. This may cause the early part of the season to have some bumps in the road, but if Vogel can figure out the perfect recipe for his two superstars, then the sky is the limit for how far the team can go.
