LeBron James believes facing criticism and adversity is part of the job description for any high-profile employee of the Los Angeles Lakers. Certainly, this applies to head coach Frank Vogel.
During a post-practice media availability on Monday, James was asked by Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times whether the criticism that has been levied at Vogel for the team's shaky first-quarter of the 2021-22 NBA season has been “fair.”
LeBron did not refute that nor whole-heartedly defend his head coach, though he did place some of the blame for the team's struggles on the players. James noted that dealing with the detractors is something numerous folks in the Laker's locker room have experience with, including Vogel.
“I think criticism comes with the job,” James said. “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. We're a team and an organization that don't mind some adversity, that don't mind people saying things about us, because it comes with the territory. And we have a lot of guys on this team that have been bulletin-board material for quite a long time, so it don't quite bother us.”
“Frank doesn't care and we don't either, about what people are saying,” he added.
A few minutes later, Vogel took questions from reporters and was asked if he feels like the Lakers gig comes with more scrutiny than other coaching jobs in the league.
“Not really,” Vogel responded. “There's gonna be criticism with this job. It's something we're all accustomed to. And I've been a coach for 10 years. I've seen it all. Is it more national? Yes, it's more national. Is there a bigger fanbase in this market in LA? Yes, there is. But it's been there for every head coach, and it's something I'm not unfamiliar with. So it just comes with the job.
Vogel was recently given the second-best odds to be the next NBA coach to be fired. Despite winning a title just over a year ago, the Lakers rewarded Vogel with a one-year extension, which raised eyebrows and kept the leverage with the front office.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6L7QT8tDJ3RF060SkgvLE7?si=a8d4775205eb41e5
In recent weeks, Vogel's job security (or lack thereof) has been a talking point in the NBA community as the remodeled and banged-up Lakers (12-12) have been unable to tighten their defense nor discover an identity.
Of course, the LeBron-led 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers replaced David Blatt with Ty Lue midseason and won a championship. Notably, the Lakers brought aboard former New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale — a close confidant of LeBron from their Miami Heat days — this summer.
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