The Los Angeles Lakers entered the season with championship aspirations, but through 21 games, the squad is in a play-in tournament spot.
At 10-11, the Lakers’ issues can be attributed to plenty of factors. LeBron James has played just 10 games, so the Lakers haven’t seen enough of him with Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn haven’t played yet. Austin Reaves, Talen Horton-Tucker and James have missed time.
The list continues, but the facts are L.A. ranks 22nd in offensive rating, 20th in defensive rating and 29th in points allowed. When the situation is that atrocious, especially with the talent on the roster, the pressure starts to mount on the head coach.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein (paid subscription), that is presumably the case with Frank Vogel:
There is also rising buzz in coaching circles about the pressure mounting on Frank Vogel given the Lakers’ worrisome 10-10 start … given L.A.’s lack of flexibility to make roster changes.
Sam Amick of The Athletic backed the report up as well:
As longtime NBA scribe Marc Stein first noted Thursday, there is indeed growing chatter in both coaching circles and the coaching agent world that Vogel needs to turn this around sooner rather than later. That’s never a foolproof indicator of what’s to come, but the Kings’ recent choice to fire Walton and promote Alvin Gentry reminded us that it shouldn’t be ignored either.
Only Los Angeles’ front office knows how long the leash is on Vogel, but if the current trend persists, a new head coach could soon be taking the mantle.
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