Lakers coach Frank Vogel doesn't deserve to be fired
By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
When Lakers coach Frank Vogel entered the news conference before Wednesday's game, everyone fell silent. Multiple reports had surfaced Tuesday that Vogel's job was on the line, and everyone knew what topic would dominate the session.
"Hello, everyone," Vogel said, flashing his typical smile. He made eye contact with various reporters in the room, his way of acknowledging everyone's humanity.
He was then largely stripped of his.
Vogel had to field seven questions related to his job security. Imagine knowing that your job is on the line and then having to speak publicly about how that feels. And imagine having to do it before a game in which you're battling for your coaching life, with your every move scrutinized.
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Vogel tried to downplay the situation.
"I don't feel like I'm under siege," he said. "It's not hard to do my job. I'm very focused on the task at hand. I've always been that way."
Except he is under siege, and he has been for a while. The Lakers made that abundantly clear when they gave Vogel a one-year contract extension this past offseason — even though he led the team to a championship two years ago. The team's brass trusted him with only an ephemeral arrangement, revealing a preexisting undercurrent of skepticism.
Now that the Lakers are struggling, Vogel is the perfect scapegoat. A team with championship expectations and four future Hall of Famers is one game below .500. Somebody has to take the fall.
The final blow for Vogel seemed primed after the Lakers' 111-104 loss to the Pacers, who are 13th in the East with a record of 16-29. It was bad, and it came with Vogel already on extremely tenuous ground.
According to The Athletic, Vogel escaped with his job by the skin of his teeth after the team's embarrassing, 37-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. He then bought himself a small lifeline with a win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. That lifeline seemed ready to snap late Wednesday night.
But Vogel will travel with the team to Orlando on Friday, according to Yahoo! Sports. He's safe. For now.
The real question is: How is this all fair?
The Lakers stripped Vogel of his superpower when they traded away their defensive core for Russell Westbrook in the offseason. Vogel is defensive-minded. When the Lakers won the title, they were third in the league in defensive rating. Last season, they were first.
Now, without Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Kyle Kuzma, the Lakers are 18th in the league in defense. The front office wanted to gamble on the team's offense carrying it to the top. But now the Lakers are 24th in that category, despite having LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook. (Davis missed his 15th consecutive game Wednesday because of an MCL strain in his left knee.)
How is any of this Vogel's fault?
The speed at which he has gone from being heralded as a success to cast as a scapegoat is dizzying.
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Let's not forget that Vogel was the stabilizing force for the Lakers during the unbridled chaos of 2020, a season that included Kobe Bryant's death, the emergence and proliferation of a global pandemic, the suspension of the season and its resumption in an isolated and lonely bubble.
During that time, Vogel was celebrated.
"He's been great," James said in September 2020. "He's been unbelievable. It's been a crazy obstacle course for our franchise this whole year. He's been able to manage it the whole time."
A short 15 months later, James had to come to Vogel's defense.
"Coaching staff has been great," James said Wednesday after finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
When pressed further about Vogel's job security, he bristled.
"If you got something to ask me besides trying to s--- on somebody, I’ll answer those," he said.
This situation isn't surprising. Someone has to be blamed for the Lakers' failings this season. They're in eighth in the Western Conference, just a half-game ahead of the ninth-place Clippers. Instead of fighting for their 18th championship, they could be fighting to make the playoffs.
That's unacceptable for a franchise that, in 2020, finally reached the pinnacle of the league after missing the playoffs for six straight seasons. Now the Lakers are trending in the wrong direction.
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After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season amid injuries to Davis and James, the Lakers are now in danger of not making it that far. Things have gotten so bad that several of their games were switched off of national broadcasts.
Someone needs to be put on the chopping block, and it's not going to be one of the biggest names in the league. Instead, it's going to be the unassuming guy on the bench.
"It’s really not up to me whether it’s fair or not," Vogel said. "It comes with the territory, comes with being the Lakers' coach. We have high expectations. This fan base really cares. It’s a big market, and I wouldn’t want it any other way, to be honest with you."
Vogel said all the right things. All coaches know that job insecurity comes with the gig when they sign their multimillion-dollar contracts. But it's still painful to watch.
Before the Lakers played the Pacers, Vogel said he received supportive texts and phone calls from colleagues. He said his recent interactions with the front office were the same as they've always been. But despite his attempts to downplay the turmoil, there's a sense of impending doom.
If Vogel was going to go out Wednesday, he wanted to do it his way. He benched Westbrook, who is earning $44.2 million this season, for the final three minutes and 52 seconds of crunch time with the Lakers down 101-94. When questioned about it after the game, Vogel said he went with the players he thought could win.
Westbrook left the arena without speaking to reporters.
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James spoke for him, using a rhetorical question to point out the obvious.
"Would you think that would bother Russ, not being in a late game?" he asked. "There’s your answer."
At least that was the biggest drama of the evening.
Vogel survived another day. But unless there are some major changes, the inevitable will hover over him like a shadow.
If the Lakers keep sinking, someone is going to be sacrificed.
And if it comes to that, it will be him.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
