Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was a dead man walking for much of the 2021-22 NBA season. Vogel was reportedly almost fired in the middle of the season, but while he wasn't, reports continued to come out saying he would be fired at the end of the regular season.
Sure enough, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski came out after Sunday's regular-season finale and reported Vogel is a goner. However, the Lakers haven't actually made that announcement yet, and LeBron James claimed Monday nobody has told him anything:
LeBron on if the Lakers have told him about Vogel's firing: "I have not been told. I've seen the reports like everybody else has."
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) April 11, 2022
LeBron added this on Vogel:
“I respect Frank as a coach and as a man. He's a man who gives everything to the game. At the end of the day, I don't know what's going to happen with Frank and him being here. But I have nothing but respect for him.”
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LeBron allegedly not knowing about Vogel getting fired is simply not believable, so he's clearly just trying to deflect given no official announcement has been made. The fact that the Lakers didn't make an announcement before James spoke is an issue in itself because everybody knows where this is going. Letting this linger is just not necessary.
Vogel himself wasn't too pleased about the report coming out on Sunday night about his firing. He obviously knows this is coming, but it's still an uncomfortable situation for him. Los Angeles has handled this terribly, which is no surprise given what happened this season.
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