LeBron James Says He Has ’Nothing But Respect’ for Frank Vogel

The Lakers fired Vogel following a disappointing 33-49 season.

Frank Vogel’s tenure as Lakers head coach had not officially ended by the time LeBron James spoke to the media on Monday morning, but all reports indicate that that conclusion is imminent. James was asked about his time working with Vogel in Los Angeles and was complimentary about the 48-year-old coach’s tenure.

LeBron James on Frank Vogel’s firing: pic.twitter.com/X1q54TRzfR

— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) April 11, 2022

“I respect Frank as a coach, as a man,” James said. “Our partnership that we’ve had over a few years here has been nothing but candid, great conversations. He’s a guy that gives everything to the game … at the end of the day, I don’t know what’s going to happen with Frank being here, but I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”

Within minutes of Los Angeles finishing its final game of the season Sunday night, a largely meaningless win over the Nuggets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that would be the final game Frank Vogel coached for the franchise. The Lakers will now reportedly embark on a “lengthy and expansive” search for the next coach to work with James and whichever other Lakers are still on the roster next season.

Frank Vogel has coached his final game for the Los Angeles Lakers, per @wojespn 🚨

The Lakers’ head coaching search is expected to be "lengthy and expansive" with no clear initial frontrunner. pic.twitter.com/P7fNru6uSw

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 11, 2022

When asked in Sunday’s postgame press conference about Wojnarowski’s report, Vogel said, “I haven’t been told s---,” according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

Los Angeles finished its season 33–49, its worst season since 2016–17, finishing one game behind the Spurs for 10th place in the Western Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament.

Vogel led the Lakers to an NBA title in his first season with the team, which concluded in the NBA’s COVID-19 bubble in Orlando. The Lakers were bounced in the first round by the Suns in last year’s playoffs before failing to qualify for the postseason in 2022.

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