Frank Vogel, former head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, says he knew the team was in trouble, last year, before the regular season even began. Vogel discussed the exact moment where he started to have his doubts as to the Lakers' chances during a new interview with The Athletics' Bill Oram.
Oram, who sat down with Vogel earlier this month, discussed the interview during an appearance on the Locked on Lakers podcast this week.
“If you go back to the story I wrote a week ago, I had an exclusive interview with Frank Vogel," Oram explained. "I remember how I asked him this question. I said, ‘When did first pick up on this was not going to be as smooth sailing as you thought? What was the first domino of all the things that went wrong?’ And he went back to the preseason and he said when Russ and AD played, before LeBron ever played, it didn’t look good.
He continued: “That’s before the Lakers lost a single game in the regular season. Very telling, very damning and I think reflects poorly on the decision-makers.”
Despite entering the season with championship hopes, the Lakers finished with a 33–49 record and missed the playoffs. Vogel was immediately fired after the conclusion of the regular season. He tallied a 127–98 record in three seasons with the organization.
Check out Oram's appearance on Locked on Lakers below.
[Via]