What are the Los Angeles Lakers doing?
After a disappointing 2021-22 season, it was widely expected that the Lakers were going to make some moves to improve next season. There were grumblings that head coach Frank Vogel would be fired… but those didn't make sense at the time. People were talking more on the player side of things, such as trading Russell Westbrook or acquiring other stars.
However, in a strange but unsurprising turn of events, the Lakers have indeed fired their championship head coach, booting Vogel minutes after the season finale. An already messy situation got a lot more messier with the timing of the announcement. Vogel himself didn't know what was going on, saying: (via ClutchPoints' Michael Corvo)
“I haven’t been told shit and I’m going to enjoy tonight’s game”
Frank Vogel on reports of his firing: "I haven't been told shit and I'm going to enjoy tonight's game."
"We'll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow,"
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) April 11, 2022
Attempting to improve is obviously an amazing thing to do. However, the Lakers are going about it the wrong way by firing Vogel. Here's why making Frank Vogel the scapegoat in this situation is absolutely the wrong choice for the team.
The major reason why firing Frank Vogel is the wrong choice for the Lakers
Put simply, none of this mess was Frank Vogel's fault.
Coaches often tend to be the immediate scapegoat of a team that's failing. So when the Lakers' supposed “super-team” wasn't working wonders, many fans immediately pointed at Vogel for not making it work. “Why does a team that has Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis not winning any games?”, the fans ask.
The thing is, though, the roster handed to Vogel was a completely flawed roster in more ways than one. First of all, the Lakers roster was ill-fitted for the coach's strength. Dating back to his time in Indiana, Vogel's teams pride themselves on a tenacious defense. LeBron knows all about it, facing those Roy Hibbert-led defenses many times during his stint in Miami.
That defense was also one of the biggest reasons why the Lakers won their 2019 title in the bubble. That LA roster was unbelievably good on defense, with defensive-minded players being led by a defensive-minded coach. Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Danny Green in the backcourt, while Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard, Markieff Morris, and of course Anthony Davis manned the frontcourt.
This season, Rob Pelinka didn't even try to give Vogel decent defensive pieces for their roster. Malik Monk is a below-average defender, and Carmelo Anthony is just… bad on defense. Dwight Howard isn't the same player he was two years ago. And worst of all, they traded away Caruso, KCP, and Kuzma: three key defenders from their championship roster.
What the Lakers did to Frank Vogel was like giving an architect Play-Doh and telling him to recreate the Great Wall of China. When Anthony Davis went down with an injury, the Lakers' defense plummeted from ninth in the league. Since then, it has never recovered… at all.
On offense, Vogel did what he can to try and make the LeBron James – Russell Westbrook pairing work. Everyone saw the writing on the wall, that this duo is not fit to play together. But Vogel was forced to try and make it work, and he did at times! Benching Westbrook was the call that would've saved the Lakers season, and the coach hinted at doing it. However, reports say that Vogel essentially had to play the superstar, even if it was detrimental to the team.
The Lakers are falling to the same traps that they fell victim to in the last two years. After a successful championship campaign, the organization found a way to completely tear down that roster with flashy names that weren't a good fit for their coach (Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell). Then, after last season's injury-filled season, they panicked and packaged their championship players (players that thrived under their coach) for an aging star who doesn't fit anywhere on the team.
This is the problem that the Lakers have always had in their history: they try to shortcut their way into a title, only for their moves to completely backfire on them. Firing Vogel is a short-sighted move that fails to address the real issues of the team, issues that the front office brought on themselves! This is a case of the front office refusing to admit their mistakes (Westbrook and most of the free agent signings) and putting the blame on someone else.
Frank Vogel did what he could to make the whirlwind around him make sense. Amid the roster turnover, the criticism from the fans, and the countless injuries, the Lakers coach tried anything, everything. Now, he's being scapegoated for the mistakes of the ones that brought on the whirlwind to themselves.
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