Perhaps the Los Angeles Lakers were right to fire head coach Frank Vogel earlier this week. Perhaps they weren’t.
But the way they fired him – by apparently leaking news of his dismissal just after their final regular season game and a full day before they informed Vogel – was wrong, and many around the NBA agree.
One of the people who disliked the Lakers’ handling of Vogel’s exit is team legend Shaquille O’Neal.
On his podcast, “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” he not only criticized his former team, but he even had a message for any other coaches who are thinking about joining the Purple and Gold.
Via Lakers Daily:
“‘Yeah, he was done dirty ’cause that’s how I heard I was getting traded,’ said O’Neal before explaining how he felt disrespected by the Lakers during his playing days.
“O’Neal later went on to implore other coaches to not ‘waste your time’ with the Lakers. The legendary big man also said that if he were Vogel, he would’ve quit before officially getting fired by the franchise.”
There are several candidates for the job according to league insiders, including Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Doc Rivers and former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, whom LeBron James would reportedly be “enthused” about.
But the way L.A. leaked the news about Vogel’s firing before telling him face-to-face has seemingly left a bad taste in the mouths of people around the league, including Snyder, whose interest in coming to the Lakers is reportedly lower as a result.
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