Frank Vogel is likely to be a fall man for the Los Angeles Lakers.
There’s always a fall man. In the NBA, especially when it comes to underachieving teams, it generally ends up being the head coach; fair or not. And that’s exactly what’s about to happen to Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.
A little more than halfway through the 2021-22 NBA season, in which it was a championship-or-bust season, the Lakers have been nothing short of a major disappointment. In fact, you can make an argument that the Lakers have been the most disappointing team in the league this season.
Even after an impressive win against the Utah Jazz on MLK Day, the Lakers are still only 22-22 and clinging to the seventh seed in the Western Conference standings.
After reshuffling the team’s supporting cast during the offseason, it’s left much to be desired. Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk have been good off the bench, but Talen Horton-Tucker hasn’t exactly taken the jump that many thought he could before this season and the additions of Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn look silly considering they’ve played a combined 10 games this season.
Russell Westbrook continues to look like a huge mistake as he’s been a terrible fit next to LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Speaking of Davis, he’s missed 17 games already this season and is still sidelined with a current injury – though, he’s targeting a late-January return.
The one bright spot on the team this season has been the play of LeBron James in his age-37 season. LeBron continues to defy the odds as he’s averaging 29 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists per game this season on 52 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Still, his greatness this year has been outweighed by injury, bad fit, and the lack of consistency.
In short, it’s been a colossal disaster for the Lakers so far this season. And, for one reason or another, there has to be a fall man. And it will likely, at least at first, be Vogel. According to a recent report, Vogel is clinging to his job with the Lakers.
But that’s actually quite perplexing. Why should Vogel take the fall for many things that are out of his paygrade?
Was Vogel the one that decided to trade for Westbrook during the offseason?
Was it Vogel’s fault that LeBron and AD have both missed extended time this season?
Is it Vogel’s fault that the front office decided to overreact during the offseason and completely shuffle their supporting cast?
Is it Vogel’s fault that the team, now, has no wiggle room when it comes to the trade deadline?
If the answer to those questions is mostly no, then what are the Lakers actually accomplishing by firing Vogel?
Maybe some of the blame for LA’s bottom 10 offense and 18th ranked defense should fall on Vogel. But to entirely paint a picture that he’s the primary reason for the Lakers’ shortcomings this season is quite unfortunate. There’s no question that Vogel deserves some blame but it’s outrageous to suggest he deserves to be the first one to receive his “punishment.”
This is kind of the name of the game, though. No matter how unfortunate or unfair it is, it seems like Vogel is about to take the fall for sins committed by the Lakers that he probably had a little-to-no part in.