Led by head coach Frank Vogel, the Los Angeles Lakers are largely about LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
However, there are so many more players that impact the way this team is. Two of those role players are Avery Bradley — whose defense and hustle earned him a spot in the starting lineup — and Jared Dudley, who has become one of the team’s most profound locker room voices.
Dudley and Bradley are extremely important to this year’s Lakers team, so what they think about Vogel and the rest of the team matters just as much as the opinions of Davis and James. Luckily, it seems the two role players are having an absolute blast playing for the Lakers during the 2019-20 NBA season, and it shows in the way the two speak about the team and play for the team.
The two recently had high praise for Vogel and his leadership skills with Bradley saying the way he’s maintained consistency in his message has helped to build respect in the locker room, according to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN:
“Frank is a motivator and true leader, and he’s consistent — emotionally and with his message,” says Lakers guard Avery Bradley. “That’s important because when you’re around a lot of alpha males every single day, you need a lot of consistency. It builds respect.”
Dudley also had nice words to say about Vogel, praising his communication skills and always knowing the right thing to do when it comes to his two All-Star players:
“His communication skills have been on point when it comes to the top two players,” says veteran forward Jared Dudley. “He knows the temperature of the team, knows when [James and Davis] need time off, when to rely on them, when to get on them in a film session. Everything he’s doing says ‘veteran coach.'”
It seems as though Vogel has not only earned the respect of his two All-Star players, but really the entire roster. He’s been the exact type of head coach the Lakers needed after the drama of the past couple seasons and everyone in the organization seems to notice.
With Vogel at the helm, it seems as if this team feels they can accomplish anything while at the same time remaining humble and hard working. It’s a delicate balance between the two states of mind and Vogel has figured it out.
If Vogel truly has gotten everyone on this roster to buy in to the message he’s preaching, that will drastically improve the demeanor of the Lakers heading into the 2020 NBA playoffs.