Asked on Monday about the criticism Lakers coach Frank Vogel has received this season and the job he has done, LeBron James didn’t exactly provide a full-throated endorsement for Vogel, but suggested that he and his teammates – not the head coach – bear responsibility for the team’s up-and-down start, as Bill Oram of The Athletic and Dave McMenamin of ESPN relay.
“I think criticism comes with the job, you know?” James said. “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.”
Vogel is less than two years removed from taking the Lakers to a title in his first season on the job, but the club had a disappointing first-round exit last season and is just 12-12 so far this year. Although Vogel signed a contract extension during the offseason, that deal tacked just one year onto his current contract, so he’s only locked up through 2022/23. Still, he said he’s not concerned about facing increased scrutiny.
“There’s going to be criticism with this job,” Vogel said, per McMenamin. “It’s something we’re all accustomed to. And I’ve been a coach for 10 years, I’ve seen it all. Is it more national? Yes, it’s more national. Is there a bigger fanbase in this market in L.A.? Yes, there is. But it’s been there for every head coach, and it’s something I’m not unfamiliar with. So it just comes with the job.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Executives around the league think that if the Kings make a big move to shake up their roster, De’Aaron Fox might be at the center of it, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. General manager Monte McNair has drafted Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell since taking the reins of the front office in 2020, while Fox was selected by the previous regime.
- The Warriors‘ public messaging about James Wiseman‘s recovery timeline following meniscus surgery has been a little inconsistent, but it has become increasingly clear that he won’t return until sometime in the new year, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who notes that Wiseman’s timeline has been similar to that of Jaren Jackson Jr. last year — the Grizzlies’ big man missed about eight-and-a-half months after undergoing meniscus surgery.
- Klay Thompson won’t accompany the Warriors on the team’s five-game road trip that begins on Saturday in Philadelphia, head coach Steve Kerr said on Monday (Twitter link via Slater). Golden State’s home games on Dec. 20 and Dec. 23 have been cited as possible return dates for Thompson.
2002 sac kings got jobbed by the league and the officials
They sure did…. F**** the Lakers
Everyone’s been screwed once or twice. Come back and be better.
In fact.. why not be the team that RECEIVES the benefit of screwing the other team? Why not be the team that the NBA WANTS to send forward and put on a pedestal? Why not be that team?
Come back better, be better, be a better franchise. Then you won’t get screwed. Instead, they’ll be looking for ways to propel you or prop you up ahead of the other team.
O ya the leagues gonna throw the kings a break like the Lakers in 02 or the cavs winning the lottery for lebron I’m sure Sacramento is right up there in Adam silvers wishlist for preferential treatment.
He’d probably prefer the franchise be in Seattle and at this rate a lot of Sacramento kings fans might also.
Defeatist attitude. That gets you nowhere. Be better. Be an exceptional franchise. Why can’t the Sacramento Kings do that? What’s the excuse? Get it done.
Don’t tell me about the labor pains, show me the baby.
Ghostrobot, the warriors were the laughing stock of the NBA for decades. They had one or two good years in 30. I know I’ve been a fan since forever.
Now they are an exceptional franchise. I wonder how they did that? Now they’re on TV all the time. I wonder how they did that?
Ahhh yes it’s all so simple. All the Kings need to do is draft the best shooter to ever touch a basketball with the 7th pick and follow that up with drafting arguably the 2nd best shooter of all time with the 11th pick a couple seasons later. Maybe sprinkle in a perineal all-defense/DPOY with your 2nd round pick the year after. Now that is a good start, BUT what if you add the consensus best overall scorer in the league? Now we’re cooking with gas. Okay but what happens when he leaves? Oh well lets draft him for a guy we’ll flip to a struggling franchise willing to wildly overpay in terms of draft compensation and then have all those other guys we mentioned earlier get hurt and tank away the season. Get a new young core of potential stars and the old guys can come back after. Its honestly that easy. Not sure why no other team has thought of that.
Trade him not draft him lol
Okay then.., the Phoenix Suns. They’re getting it done. So are the Milwaukee Bucks. I guess the Sacramento Kings have no chance of being a franchise like those either. Also.., the Spurs, Jazz.., plenty of great franchises that the Kings could model themselves after. But that’s fine. Whatever franchise they want to be is just great by me.
These are much better comparisons thank you. Not defending how incompetent the Kings have been for the better part of two decades but to use Golden State as the blueprint is insane
So you’re saying the Golden State Warriors got lucky…, in all the cases you mentioned?
Drafting Curry, drafting Thompson, signing Durant, relying on Jerry West for expertise and who to trade (Monta Ellis) and who to pick, hiring Bob Myers, firing mark Jackson and hiring Steve Kerr, moving to San Francisco, opening the chase Center, increasing the value of the franchise from 450 million purchase price to two or three Billion today ? These are all as a result of luck?
Or are each of these calculated moves based on hours and hours and months of hard work and research and video and planning? In my opinion the Kings could attempt to do the same thing. In my opinion the Jazz and the Bucs and the Suns and the Spurs are doing the same thing. But as you say of course the Warriors got lucky on 15 different things. Can’t compare them or “try” to be like them.
That’s like saying don’t try to be like Michael Jordan because you’ll never be a Hall of Famer basketball player with six rings etc etc etc. I say go ahead and try to be like Michael Jordan.., do the best you can, be the best you can, no excuses, no, “I got screwed” Etc. See what I’m getting at?
Desire for excellence gets you somewhere along that path. Michael Jordan? Maybe not. Golden State Warriors three rings in five years? Maybe not.
To be fair they did want to trade Steph Curry and Klay Thompson for Chris Paul early on in their careers. Would have been very different.
Wow great memory !! I think I did hear about that. Wasn’t it around the same time Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers and they squashed it? I think New Orleans made him available and the warriors were looking into it.
Could you imagine that turn of events? Paul probably would have been good as well with the Dubs, but a totally different look. Very interesting. But as you can see, the warriors were aggressive about getting better. Sacramento Kings.., not so much.
You are off your rocker
if you don’t think each and every draft pick hinges on luck. Were the Warriors not extremely lucky that nobody else drafted the guys they did? Especially if you say it really just comes down to scouting. Then every team could have seen what was coming. Warriors have been hands down the luckiest team in the NBA the last decade
Your true colors finally come out. Everything is based on luck. Well good luck with your plan as you roll through life. I wish you well.
Yes I strongly disagree with your outlook so I must be “off my rocker.” I’ll take it and stand on it all day long and twice on Sundays.
GM’s can be so frustrating, right?
So you happy to trade a star like Fox ’cause another GM was good enough to pick him, meanwhile you happy to keep much lesser players like Haliburton & Mitchell, just ’cause you picked them, really dumb, right?
I’d trade fox for Simmons. Issue is 76ers would want more and I wouldn’t want to gut my assets.
I’m not really sure what Gary here in the comments is thinking. Gary the kings have tried damn near everything. The only thing this team hasn’t done is pick a direction to go and stick with it. Vivek was WAYYYY to hands on at the beginning and he brought in 2 absolutely horrible GM’s to start his time as owner. He fired the one coach cousins liked ( team had a winning record , boogie then got meningitis). At the end of the day it’s Sacramento. I love this city but if I was in the NBA why on earth would I ever want to play here? Sacramento is fast becoming the real east bay with prices the way they are. Taxes are through the roof as well so now you have expenses drizzled over a poorly ran franchise. The kings need to keep fox and Halliburton for sure, they also need to mend things with bagley and give him as many minutes as possible. If you can’t get anything for Hield then a buyout needs to be plan B . I’m going to stop I’m just rambling . Gary they have tried . They have failed. If it’s so easy brochacho how about you go tell Vivek that it shouldn’t be a problem for you to take over and turn things around .
Tim, if I was good at that kind of thing I’d be employed in that kind of thing. One thing I do know, and that’s the area that I AM employed in I work hard and I do my best and I don’t give excuses and I get the job done. I’m surrounded by people with attitudes such as yours. “I tried, it didn’t work, it’s not my fault,” Etc.
Okay we just have a difference of opinion and I’m on an island. That’s okay I’ll take it as I said above, no problem. But I still won’t stop saying that IT CAN BE DONE. There’s teams in the NBA that get it done, and there’s teams in the NBA that don’t.
And don’t tell me it’s because the Sacramento Kings are geographically in Sacramento. There’s ways of getting guys aside from attracting a free agent to come in. Trades and drafting help you build a team. Make the right trades. Hire the right guys.
Maybe here’s the point you’re not understanding… Excellence is tough to find !! Guys who know what they’re doing are tough to find. If it was easy then everyone would do it. The Warriors were crap for 30 years until the last six or 8. I know a crap team when I see it.
Fair enough though. You guys are not wrong you just think of it and look at it differently. That’s cool. I’m not critical of you I just look at it differently.