No one within the Los Angeles Lakers is happy with how the 2021-22 NBA season has unfolded thus far. The team is currently 12-12 and holding down the sixth spot in the Western Conference.
These are struggles that the organization is not used to having and want to see turned around. However, some outside the franchise are eating it up.
There were plenty of naysayers coming into the season in regards to the Lakers. They didn’t think acquiring Russell Westbrook was a good move and adding so many aging veterans was a strategy met with criticism as well.
Injuries have been consistent as the team has struggled to build chemistry with 10 new players in the mix. Head coach Frank Vogel has seen his seat get hot in the process, as many believe he could be the next coach given a pink slip after the Sacramento Kings fired Luke Walton earlier in the season.
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But, Vogel did just get a vote of confidence from the most important player on the Lakers in LeBron James. James stood up for his head coach, saying it is on the players to get the job done.
“I think criticism comes with the job, you know?” James said after practice on Monday. “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, obviously, because it comes with the territory.”
Vogel has been catching a lot of heat for how the team has performed thus far this season. He has made some questionable decisions with rotations and lineups, but he is doing the best with what he has.
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LeBron James himself has played in only 12 games this season. Talen Horton-Tucker has appeared in only 11. Kendrick Nunn and Trevor Ariza have yet to step on the court. Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk are the only players to have appeared in all 24 games thus far.
They are focused on getting better and are tuning out all of the outside noise, focusing on only themselves.
“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,” James said. “Everything that we do stays in house when it comes to our preparation and how we prepare for our next opponent and how we prepare to get better. Frank doesn’t care and we don’t either about what people are saying.”
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Frank Vogel is one of the winningest coaches in Los Angeles Lakers history. He helped guide the team to a championship in his first season. His .635 winning percentage is the sixth highest in franchise history and his .667 winning percentage in the postseason is third.
