Following a disappointingseason, the Los Angeles Lakers headed into the 2021-22 NBA campaign with high aspirations that were fueled by their offseason activity. However, it didn’t take long for them to get frustrated again.
With LeBron James out fora number of games andRussell Westbrookoff to a bad start, the new-look Lakers have struggled to be consistent at the beginning of the season. Somethingthat hasinevatibly made Frank Vogel accountable.
While the team failed to take care of business inwinnable matches, the Lakers head coach had to take most of the blame for his side’s issues and reports haveeven put his positionin question. That’s why Jeanie Buss spoke to the media about this.
Lakers news: Jeanie Buss says Frank Vogel needs to have a healthy team to be evaluated
The Lakers did struggle to kick off their campaign as expected. But it’s also true that they’ve not been given a great hand as injuries caught up with them early in the season. And now, it looks like they’re finally turning things around.
During halftime of their fantastic 117-102win over Boston Celtics, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss put the Frank Vogel’s job security rumors to rest. “Until we’re 100% healthy, I don’t think you can really make any judgment,” Buss told NBA.com.
“We’re as connected as any organization can be. I really don’t know what you’re looking for me to say. I would say until we’re 100 percent healthy, I won’t make any judgments about anything,” she added.
And perhaps the evaluation could begin really soon for Vogel, as the Lakers only have two players out with injury right now, Kendrick Nunn and Trevor Ariza. The latter, however, is getting closer to his season debut.
Frank Vogel, LeBron James have also spoken up on the coach’s criticism
Well, everyone at the Lakers may have heard the noise around Frank Vogel’s future. The coach himself and LeBron James, of course, are no strangers to this situation and have spoken up about it.
“I think criticism comes with the job,” LeBronsaid. “Frank is a strong-minded guy. He has a great coaching staff. And we as his players have to do a better job of going out and producing on the floor… Frank doesn’t care and we don’t either, about what people are saying.“
“We’re focused on the job,” Vogel explained. “We stay in the moment, focus at the task at hand, try to win the next game, try to get some momentum around our season… It’s not up to me. So, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. Really, I’m just focused on the job.”
That should shut down all the rumors around the Lakers coach position, at least for a while. But from now on, with just a couple of players on the sidelinesthere won’t be more excuses. The timing looks good, though, as the purple and gold look like they are about toright the ship.
