At this point in the season, it just feels like Frank Vogel is sitting on a perpetual hot seat. It's no secret that his job as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers is not very secure at the moment. So much so, that LA's front office was reportedly on the brink of firing Vogel last week.
Ultimately, the Lakers opted to keep Vogel on board — at least for now. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, this decision had a lot more to do with the potential impact of the coaching change as opposed to their confidence in Vogel's ability to revive this Lakers squad:
A series of listless losses throughout the season have put the onus on Vogel at several points, most recently last week when the team contemplated whether a midseason change could jump-start the team. Ultimately, the Lakers decided against replacing Vogel, for the time being at least, multiple sources said, because no one believes changing the coach will yield dramatically different results.
For Frank Vogel, I guess this reason will have to suffice. Based on the above report, it doesn't exactly sound like he has the utmost backing of the higher-ups, but he should take consolation in the fact that he still has a job. This should buy him some much-needed time to try and steer the ship in the right direction, so to speak.
The good news for Vogel and the Lakers is that Anthony Davis is nearing his return. AD has been out for over a month now due to a lingering knee injury, but it sounds like he should be back in action sooner rather than later. This could come as early as Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets, with Davis being upgraded to probable ahead of this marquee matchup.
Davis won't be able to sweep all of the Lakers' troubles away, but his return will serve as an undeniably significant boost for a struggling LA side. AD's return should also have a major impact on Vogel's volatile tenure as head coach — or at least coach Franks is hoping and praying that it will.
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