Frank Vogel Has Earned The Respect Of LeBron James

In James’ first season with the Lakers, he was under Luke Walton, who proved to have some success as an assistant under Steve Kerr with the Golden State Warriors. Walton was also a disciple of coaching legend Phil Jackson with many, including Kobe Bryant, backing him up and saying that he was more than fit to be a head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Unfortunately for Walton, his coaching stint with the Lakers was over after going 37-45 and missing the NBA Playoffs. This set up Tyronn Lue, who coached James and Kyrie Irving to a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, to become the next coach for the Lakers, but the Lakers reported that Lue wanted too much money, so contracts broke down on his side of things.

The Lakers ended up hiring Vogel, and have greatly exceeded expectations at this point in the NBA season. The Lakers started out in the season hot going on a 17-game winning streak as Vogel won the Coach of the Month award for that hot streak.