The Los Angeles Lakers have amassed a 33-8 record through the first half of the season so it may be easy to forget just how volatile their summer was. Before Anthony Davis was a Laker, the team had gone through an impromptu front office reorganization and a public hiring process to replace Luke Walton that seemed uninspiring at best.
Both Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue turned the Lakers down and Jason Kidd, who seemed to be their third preferred candidate, became an assistant to their eventual hire, Frank Vogel.
Vogel, however, has done his part to make everyone forget about those hectic few weeks. A non-traditional hire for the Lakers, he’s had the team clicking on all cylinders as they’ve raced out to a four-game lead for the top seed in the Western Conference.
The question most often asked of Vogel immediately after his hiring was how he would relate to LeBron James and later Anthony Davis. Vogel, though, seems to have done an excellent job upholding those relationships as Davis might tell you in a feature on Vogel written by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz:
“Frank comes in every day, win or lose, with the same attitude. Never too high and never too low,” Davis says. “I love his coaching, I love his coaching style — and I love him as a coach.”
As one Lakers source reportedly told Arnovitz, Vogel has had the perfect balance of acquiring the trust and leadership of James and Davis while continuing to hold them accountable in front of the rest of the team. With the stars being treated similarly to the role players, the Lakers’ supporting cast has played unbelievably well, supporting their top duo on the court.
Of course, a lot of this is easy to say when the team is winning as prolifically as it had been. But that’s the goal of the sport and Vogel has managed to balance relationships and get his team to play hard night in and night out while not overworking them and keeping sight of the end goal in June.
As it stands, Vogel has been the perfect hire for James, Davis and the Lakers.
