While she mostly stays in the background and allows the people she hired to do their job, ultimately Los Angeles Lakers’ owner Jeanie Buss signs off on any major moves the team makes. With the team struggling throughout the early part of this season, there have been some questions about the job security of head coach Frank Vogel.
Any time a team is failing to live up to expectations, the head coach becomes a target as firing him is usually the easiest move a team can make. Vogel has not helped his case at times this season, but the Lakers’ injury issues have really limited his options as well and that is something that Buss recognizes and thus won’t rush to make any decisions.
Buss spoke with Mark Medina of NBA.com and said that until the Lakers are completely healthy, the organization can’t make any judgment on their head coach:
“Until we’re 100 percent healthy, I don’t think you can really make any judgment,” Buss told NBA.com at halftime of the Lakers-Celtics game on Tuesday at Staples Center.
Buss continued on, making it clear that the Lakers are all on one page when it comes to their feelings on Vogel:
“We’re as connected as any organization can be,” Buss said. “I really don’t know what you’re looking for me to say. I would say until we’re 100 percent healthy, I won’t make any judgments about anything.”
The head coach is often the scapegoat in times like this, but Buss will not rush into any decisions on the fate of Vogel. It wasn’t too long ago that he led the Lakers to a championship and that is not forgotten.
He will be given every chance to turn this season around and the Lakers just had one of their best performances of the season in their victory over the Boston Celtics.
For his part, Vogel has insisted that he isn’t concerned with his job security while LeBron James added that the players have to do a better job executing on the floor. Trevor Ariza is nearing a return as well so the Lakers are getting that much closer to finally having their full roster available.
Vogel not worried about job security with Lakers
The criticism that comes along with being the head coach of the Lakers is greater than most and it has certainly heated up over the past few weeks, but Frank Vogel maintains that it isn’t bothering him at this time.
“No, we haven’t discussed it. We’re focused on the job. We stay in the moment and focus on the task at hand, trying to win the next game, trying to get some momentum around our season.”
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