LeBron James's history shows Frank Vogel is in a fraught situation
As strange as the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching situation looks, LeBron James is in familiar territory. Though, that may not be a good thing for Frank Vogel, the new head coach in LA.
The Lakers made waves on Saturday when the team hired Vogel along with assistant coach Jason Kidd. By hiring both coaches, L.A. has set up an immediate opportunity for a problematic power dynamic. Vogel won’t have the normal powers of a typical head coach while Kidd will have a significant amount of power for a non-head-coach, according to ESPN.
While the situation sounds odd, LeBron has actually played under a very similar dynamic when he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, as noted by ESPN. David Blatt, then Cleveland’s head coach, worked with Ty Lue, the associate head coach. After mixed results with that setup, Lue supplanted Blatt.
Ultimately, LeBron began to tune out Blatt, instead looking to Lue for coaching. That was a major reason why Lue received a promotion and Blatt got fired. And perhaps knowing how tenuous those dual-coaching positions can be for the head coach, Lue rejected the Lakers’ coach offer this offseason, as he was unhappy with the terms which included the collaborative effort with Kidd. Lue knows how tricky that coaching dynamic can be.
Instead, Vogel has stepped into that vulnerable position with Kidd. LeBron can be quick to lose respect for his coaches, and Vogel’s track record of success is complicated. He was — at best — the Lakers’ third-best choice for this vacancy. That’s after two .300 seasons with the Orlando Magic. Before that, Vogel had success coaching the Indiana Pacers for six season, but LeBron’s Heat teams knocked Vogel’s team out of the playoffs in 2012 (six-game series), 2013 (seven games) and 2014 (six games). At least there weren’t any sweeps?
It easy to imagine LeBron relating better to Kidd, much like James did when he worked with another player-turned-coach in Lue. And if James likes Kidd better than he likes Vogel, then it’s also easy to imagine the Lakers new coach struggling to get command of the Lakers like Blatt struggled to get respect in Cleveland.
There are some major differences between a 2014 Blatt and a 2019 Vogel. Vogel is an experienced NBA coach who brought stability to Indiana in 2010, whereas Blatt had no NBA experience. He came to the United States with tremendous hype after dominating in Europe. Their resumes are quite different. Vogel will have to lean on his experience if he’s going to earn LeBron’s respect and maintain authority within a listing Lakers organization.
But if history repeats itself, Vogel is in trouble.