Lakers Coach Frank Vogel Opens Up About The Relationship With LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers’ new head coach Frank Vogel knew he’s not going to have an easy job when he joined the Lakers. As the team’s third choice for the role, he has had a handful of tasks since day one, trying to balance the demands of marquee players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis with what general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss want. As if that’s not enough, he has to do all of it while the Los Angeles media reports on his every word and decision.

Despite the current situation, Vogel was really optimistic when he spoke about walking into a challenging situation. However, as he said, there are a lot of positive aspects. James and Davis for instance, even considering James’ history with coaches. Vogel knows that coaches James doesn’t like don’t last long, but he said that he feels he has both support and respect from James.

“I did feel support right from the start from LeBron. He’s always shown me a great deal of respect dating back to our battles when I was in Indiana and competing with the Heat in the conference finals, and coaching him in the All-Star Game. He’s always shown me a great deal of respect, so I felt like there would be a lot of support, and there was immediately and that’s continued on through up to this point. Hopefully we can work together to build something special.”

In order for them to have a successful relationship, they will have to have support and respect for each other. James has to respect Vogel’s decisions as coach, and Vogel has to recognize that coaching James is different than coaching almost any other player in the NBA.

Vogel also commended Jason Kidd, the assistant the Lakers wanted Vogel to include on his staff. Tyronn Lue turned down the Lakers job because of that requirement, but Vogel apparently has no issue with that.

“I’ve gotten really comfortable with Jason. What I would say is every assistant coach in the NBA wants to be head coach. Jason’s no different in that regard. It was brought to my attention that they had an interest in bringing him on as an assistant … we had a great talk and a great interview and he’s in a terrific place … when I interviewed him and we had a great talk, it became very clear that we are aligned in what we could accomplish as a tandem.”

Frank Vogel is aware that everything he does and says, both on and off the court, is going to be under the microscope, but he points out that he’s looking forward to it.

“The Lakers have always been on the forefront and anywhere LeBron has been, has been on the forefront. The best experience I’ve had is being in the conference finals against LeBron because that’s exactly what it was like then. Every word I said then was blasted all over the world, all over Twitter and SportsCenter.

“That’s going to be the case here with the Lakers. It’s not something that I’ve not been a part of, but it’s just part of this job. You know, I understand it. I don’t think there’s anything negative about it. I love that our team’s going to be talked about and I love that we’re going to be one of the favorites in the league this year after having coached a number of little engine that coulds’, you know? It’s teams that were all the overachieving type. So I like being viewed as one of the favorites.”