As Lakers struggle with mediocrity, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel come under scrutiny
When you employ as many future Hall of Famers as the Los Angeles Lakers currently do, you're bound to take up a significant share of the national spotlight.
And if you also happen to be teetering around the .500 mark, just barely in the playoff fray among the Western Conference's top eight teams, the hue of that spotlight is going to take on a particularly dull tone.
That is this team's current reality.
L.A. has been the talk of the town through its first 25 games, and since the Lakers are sitting at a mediocre 13-12, that talk has swayed largely towards the negative side of the spectrum.
And with LeBron James sidelined for a good portion of the season to this point, having suited up for only 13 games, much of the criticism surrounding the group has focused on Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
The critics haven't held their tongues, either.
"For the first month of the season, y'all blamed Russell Westbrook," Charles Barkley said Tuesday night TNT's on "Inside the NBA."
"Now I hear, y'all [want to] fire Frank Vogel. It ain't right, and it ain't cool," Barkley said, before looking squarely into the camera. "Anthony Davis, you've got to play better. I said on the first night, if the Lakers are going to be any good, it's all going to be on you. … It ain't Frank Vogel's fault. In my opinion, I blame Anthony Davis. You're 27 years old. You're supposed to be in your prime, one of the best five players in the world, and you ain't holding up your end of the bargain."
Davis' struggles have drawn the ire of many NBA voices, and most have adequate reasoning behind their stances.
Entering the week, "The Brow" had taken the second-highest number of contested shots across the league (255), which ranked just behind Rudy Gobert's 268. But his conversion rate on said jumpers was abominably low, just above 33%, while averaging 0.71 points per try. He's also currently the league's fourth-worst 3-point shooter amongst those with at least 40 attempts, shooting 9-for-48 (18.8%). Even without a hand in his face, Davis' struggles are ever-apparent: He's currently making free throws at the worst rate of his career as well, averaging a 72.2% rate from the charity stripe.
For Colin Cowherd, Davis resides at the forefront of the team's issues.
"AD is the problem," he bluntly stated Wednesday on "The Herd."
"A GM told me years ago: In basketball, it's not about getting a franchise player, it's about getting the right one. Anthony Davis is a one in talent, but a two. Davis is not a grinder. Your best player has to be your hardest worker: Willful, driven and elevate others. Davis is just talented. You've got to have some dog, some alpha, be the first in the weight room and the last out. For years, we always blamed the Pelicans. Last year, he showed up out of shape."
And like Barkley, Cowherd steered the blame away from Vogel.
"Go ahead and blame Frank Vogel. Everyone wants to fire Vogel. Frank Vogel has a history of elevating bigs. Anthony Davis should be a top-3 big. And he wants to shoot jumpers. And he's shooting like 19% this year. Basketball's culture doesn't do a great job of developing leaders. It does a great job of developing players. Michael Jordan was not born a leader. But he had a strong dad, Phil Jackson, David Stern and great agent. He saw what great leadership was. The Lakers have to find their next Kobe, Magic or Shaq. [They're all] ones, and Anthony Davis is a two."
Chris Broussard also doesn't believe that Vogel is the problem.
"Frank Vogel is not the problem, and Anthony Davis needs to play better," Broussard stated on "First Things First."
"Vogel is a very good coach. He did a great job in Indiana, couldn't win in Orlando, but who has over the last decade? Two years ago, he led the Lakers to the championship. He was given the most volatile player in the league in Russell Westbrook, he was given the oldest roster in the league, and his best player has missed half of the season. What are we talking about? Be patient. Anthony Davis has got a No. 1 game, and No. 1 talent, but he's a No. 2 player in terms of approach and demeanor."
Chris Broussard: Vogel is not the problem with Lakers
But not everyone was as lenient towards Vogel's role in the team's atrophy.
"Here's the thing about Vogel," Kevin Wildes said in response to Broussard. "It doesn't matter if you don't think he's the problem, or Barkley or me. It matters if LeBron does. LeBron gave a little press conference. He was asked about Frank Vogel and he said a bunch of stuff, like 'Frank's a strong-minded guy, he's got a great staff, we're a team that doesn't mind adversity,' to the point that people didn't know what to make of it. LeBron's comments weren't supportive. … I treat LeBron talking about coaches just like I treat my wife when I say ‘I love you.’ Anything other than ‘I love you, too’ coming back, is cause for concern."
The blame game is well underway in Tinseltown, and unless the city's favorite team can string together a slew of wins on the court, it'll soon have to shoulder even more criticism.
