Jason Kidd's hire as Frank Vogel's assistant sparked plenty of controversy early in the offseason, considering that Kidd was vying for a head coaching job and part of the Los Angeles Lakers' initial coaching search. Many expected Vogel's job to be on thin threads from the get-go, considering the Lakers had a head-coach-caliber replacement at hand.
Yet there has been no talk of that since the Lakers started the regular season, quickly getting off to a great start and sitting atop of the Western Conference for the bulk of the campaign.
With no real backstabbing taking place in the Lakers' staff, Vogel noted he and Kidd have joked about it before.
“We’ve joked about it,” a chuckling Vogel told Bill Oram of The Athletic on Tuesday night. “There’s a healthy respect and trust. That has really, from Day 1 been a non-issue.”
Kidd seems to be content learning the ropes of the coaching profession after two stints as head coach in Brooklyn and Milwaukee. The former All-Star point guard quickly became a head coach without the need to work through the ranks, mostly given his time spent next to Rick Carlisle and the Dallas Mavericks, where he was considered a coach on the court.
The dime maestro will have to wait for his shot to become a head coach again, but if the Lakers succeed this season, it won't take long for his phone to ring, with many losing teams bound to look for a coaching change at season's end.
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