MAY 13, 7:47pm: The Lakers have officially signed Vogel to a multiyear contract, according to a team press release.
“We are excited to add Frank Vogel as the next head coach of the Lakers,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Coach Vogel has a proven track record of success in the NBA Playoffs, and he reflects the core qualities we were looking for in a head coach – including, detailed game preparation, extreme hard work, and holding players accountable to the highest basketball standards.”
MAY 11, 6:13pm: Vogel has accepted a three-year deal to be the Lakers’ next coach, Wojnarowski tweets. Kidd has agreed to join his staff in a “prominent assistant coaching role” (Twitter link).
Vogel probably won’t have a top assistant, with the entire staff being considered equal, Woj adds. A team source called it “the Phil Jackson model,” another indication that Jackson and Rambis had a hand in Vogel’s hiring.
4:14pm: Frank Vogel has become “a front-runner” in the Lakers’ coaching search after interviewing with the team on Thursday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Sources say the team plans to hire Jason Kidd as an assistant to work with Vogel.
GM Rob Pelinka has been talking to people who have experience with Vogel and Kidd to determine if they can comfortably fit together on the same staff, the authors add. The Lakers admire how Kidd developed young talent in Milwaukee and view him as a mentor for Lonzo Ball.
Vogel, 45, was previously a head coach with the Magic and Pacers, compiling a 304-291 record with five playoff appearances. He has been out of coaching since being fired in Orlando at the end of last season.
Vogel’s interview included “detailed discussions” on how he would handle a volatile situation in Los Angeles. The Lakers underachieved in LeBron James‘ first year in L.A., then saw team president Magic Johnson resign on the final day of the season, followed by a chaotic coaching search with assumed favorite Tyronn Lue turning down an offer this week.
[Related: 2019 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
The move toward Vogel underscores the influence of adviser Kurt Rambis and former coach Phil Jackson, according to Wojnarowski and Youngmisuk, who note that Vogel was the second choice when Jackson hired Jeff Hornacek to coach the Knicks three years ago.
Mike Woodson and Lionel Hollins were also rumored to be in the running for the Lakers’ job after negotiations with Lue ended. Their status is unclear in light of the latest news on Vogel.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
a front runner… after the others decided to steer of course to avoid winning this race
Hahah okay?
Doesn’t matter who the Lakers hire, people are gonna go off like its the worst hire ever. Vogel is nothing to get exicted about but he is not a bad coach either. Spin doctors will try and fool you
Head coaches in NBA are overrated anyways. In some cases they can influence ball movement.
But with someone like LBJ iso ball, they’re not really doing much in terms of game plan. We saw both Blatt and Lue take Cavs to the final. We saw Spoelstra gain glory from the big 3.
None did anything special. Lakers missed playoffs because of injuries to the few key players they had. Walton had as much impact as any other guy who could cheerlead on the sidelines.
Just designate minutes and keep stars fresh and on the court for key moments.
Apparently Vogel wants to bring in J Kidd as his top assistant – won’t that make for some entertaining reality TV
Doesn’t sound like it’s his idea at all. More like a condition of employment.
Ya Lakers want Kidd as HC but didn’t want the PR hit so are being covert about it.
jeanie is running this team into the laughing stock of the NBA! it’s time to sell the team buss family. vogel the next coach of the la lakers, that’s a fxxking joke! lakers use to be an elite organization. now, under this leadership is a cartoon show. it’s time to sell the team to someone that actually cares and not treat it like a reality tv show!sell the damn team jeanie, its time!
Are we the only ones with brains to know how this will turn out? Let us buy the team, then hired kobe. He’ll get it done right!!!
I don’t see any issue with going all-in on Kawhi and AD.
They didn’t get either done, but at least didn’t block themselves from getting either done this off-season.
People forget that Lakers were in 3rd before LeBrons hammy went.
If Kawhi comes to Laker land all will be forgotten, but it’s really up to Kawhi, nothing the owners or GM can do with the current format of max deals.
They can put a max deal on the table and wait it out
Wonder what the LV odds were on Frank Vogel being the next Lakers coach? Nobody wants this job because LeBron will simply not listen or respect anyone he does not endorse. It’s what David Blatt got fired, it’s why Erik Spolestra almost got fired (Wade probably talked him out of that though). It’s career suicide and coaching candidates around the league are taking notice now I think.
I like how haters like to critique the lakers when jeanie has had the team for 2 years and is trying to clean up her idiot brothers work setting the team backwards. They have a ton of nice young assets and lebron james. 5 chips last 20 years and 2 as recent as 2010, most of your teams dont even have 5 chips in there history! Just chill!
Most teams dont have more than 2 lmao
LA’s success is purely a function of their market size, Jerry Buss, and Jerry West.
Buss is dead, West is gone, and market size has never mattered less. If you think that the Lakers are in position to compete for a championship as currently configured, you’re going to be disappointed.
But, once this little co-equal coaching experiment is over and the Lakers get a decent GM, things can change. And it’s true that they’ve drafted well to, only they sure haven’t valued their own picks much, have they?
Under the circumstances, I think Vogel would be a good choice. Not that Kidd wouldn’t be, it just comes with another guy who could be high maintenance. Then again, maybe the new HC needs some moxy to answer to Pelinka (amateur GM) and Jeanie (proving to be an amateur owner), on one end, and run a team with LBJ as his star, on the other.
This will never work. Equal voices?
Too many cooks in the kitchen. Who has final say? LeBron? Head coach Vogel? GM or Jeanie Buss? This is crazy.
Kurt Rambis has final say
He is getting surgery right now to have that hole cut in his back to allow LeBron to shove his hand inside. Good luck Ms. Piggy.
This got an actual laugh. Kudos bro.
Vogel is a solid coach, but this arrangement is going to fail. When everyone is kowtowing to Kurt Rambis – and Kidd is waiting for any problems so he can take over – the players aren’t going to view Vogel as the “real” coach.
This will end with Kidd taking over mid season, and LA struggling to score efficiently.
this is a mess!
.430 at best – walton was doing fine, handled lebrona and youngens with white gloves there was no need to fire a laker family member
Clippers future much brighter than the Lakers.
clippers will always be the step child!
So the ownership committee decide to hire a coaching committee. This has to be one of the screwiest setups ever, and I was advocating Vogel. Plus it is contradictory to say assistants are equal but Kidd is… What? More equal than the others? More info must be coming.
Buss: so what happened with the magic?
Voguel: did you see that roster ?!
Buss: they made the playoffs this year….
It’s like Vogel can see into the future and is showing everyone what LeBron is going to do to him behind his back.
I would hate coaching a Top-2 player of all time who can still on any night get a triple double and a year ago dragged a bag of trash to the NBA finals.
Top 2 player of all time? Ohhh Lawd! Let the bashing begin. Its freakin impossible to measure the GOAT. Different eras, different game.
What LA is missing is they brought in a super star that is 34 and can not carry a team for the season any more. Even if they get a second, it would not be enough. LA will stay down until 3/5 years after Lebron is gone.
Two is enough, unless it is playoff time that is missed. Two is the best for capspace management and having some depth.
Way too go so-call Laker management Really is this how you’re going too destroy Lakers nation T.Lue proven coach ALL HANDS DOWN and you hire Vogel to try coaching bron? Yeah destruction. What the hell will kidd bring? Guessing plays. Lakers nation has completely been destroyed and I’m jumping off before she blows!! If La’bron smart, he’ll jump with me!
The Lakers hired two coaches both with proven track record of grooming young talent and what a surprise the Lakers haters are out in full force. You guys crack me up they could have hired Phil Jackson in his prime and right now everyone would say what a horrible move it is. This is the best move for the Lakers going forward not to mention a lot of top free agents that will be on the market this coming July are big fans of both of these coaches but since a lot of people can only get their rocks off by hating on the Lakers every single move they do keep on hating.
I WAS WONDERING if that was with James approval as long as Kidd was part of the deal ?