With the 2021-22 NBA season about to end mercifully for the Los Angeles Lakers, it seems like the firing of head coach Frank Vogel is imminent.
On the surface, it would seem like a rash decision to get rid of him when many others share the blame for L.A.’s disastrous season, and especially when one remembers that he coached the team to the world championship literally just 18 months ago.
But in reality, Vogel had reportedly lost his connection with his players.
During a season in which the only constant seemed to be chaos and key injuries, Vogel was forced to change the starting lineup about as often as most people change their underwear.
But one of the worst manifestations of the job he did this season came in how his players reacted to him during games.
Via Los Angeles Times:
“Opposing scouts said they saw Lakers players ignoring their coaches’ instruction,” wrote Dan Woike and Broderick Turner.
With injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis and poor roster construction that forced the team to rely on several over-the-hill reserves, especially in the frontcourt, it’s hard to imagine any other coach doing much better than Vogel with this group.
However, as is the case in the NFL, when an NBA team greatly underachieves, the head coach becomes the first causality, sometimes just because firing him is the easiest change to make.