Lakers: Why Frank Vogel is Hopeful This Team Can Make a Championship Push

Frank Vogel has not given up hope on the Lakers this season, and he explained that there is a reason he still believes in their NBA Finals odds.

No one could have seen this season coming for the Lakers, Yes, there were massive doubts about the lineup that Rob Pelinka and the front office had put together. And yes, there were many doubts that Russell Westbrook would fit in well to the scheme they're going for. 

But there isn't a soul out there that anticipated 27 wins at this point in the season. But that's where the Lakers are at. They're 27-34 and just barely hanging onto the ninth seed in the Western Conference. And there is a good chance that they will be fighting just to hold onto a play-in spot. 

But Frank Vogel is not ready to call it a season just yet. The Laker coach spoke after practice on Wednesday about where this team is at, and he has one reason to maintain some hope for a championship push. 

"We have not seen sustainable success yet, but it does not mean it cannot happen. We've seen throughout the course of sports history where teams have subpar regular seasons and catch fire at the right time. If you had LeBron James on that team, you have that ability."

In one sense, Vogel is right. Any team led by LeBron James has a pretty good chance at a title regardless of how the season has gone. But that still might be wishful thinking at this point. Westbrook seems to be getting worse, Anthony Davis might miss the rest of the regular season, and their bench depth is atrocious. 

It's looking pretty bad, but you never really know what's going to happen. After all, we've seen bad teams make a late run...but not quite this bad.