LA Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is a happy man. After a winning streak with the Indiana Pacers and a not-so-good run with the Orlando Magic, Vogel has been hired on by the reconstituted title-hungry Los Angeles Lakers. Now instead of fearing LeBron James in the playoffs, Vogel gets to be coached by — sorry, gets to coach — King James.
He’ll have a lot of help — because these days an NBA head coach is like a CEO with a whole slew of senior vice-presidents in his boardroom. Many think Vogel might feel threatened by the proximity of such accomplished coaches as Jason Kidd and Lionel “The Train” Hollins, both of whom are Lakers assistant coaches despite their own accomplishments in the league.
But Vogel sounds pleased to have the expertise to lean on. When you have as many stars as the Lakers have, it’s probably smart to have an assistant coach for each of them… Kidd may be the only guy in Los Angeles who sees the court better than James, unless it’s Rajon Rondo?
Vogel told NBA.com:
“We really have it all. We’ve got great experience in Jason [Kidd] and Lionel [Hollins]. They had terrific head coaching stints. Both played at a high level and won championships. Jason obviously was a Hall of Fame player and his pass-first mindset carried over to his coaching. That will be a big part of what we do with our group.”
