Vogel Is In For Lakers As Head Coach

[True Lakers Fan]

It's as simple as hiring a true PBO, someone with a track record, and give that person the approval to keep/fire Pelinka and handle the basketball side of the business. And no, Kurt Rambis is not a candidate, nor Pelinka. No more friends/family hires.

I think the right one is gone - Magic did not want to be there and had no intention of staying with the Lakers more then three years any way. I was hoping he would stay one more year, but was not surprised at all that he left

 

[WiggyRuss]

I hate y'all.

BUT, I love Magic.

So, Coward is too harsh a word for me, even when it's applicable.

He was uber-unprofessional and should never have even been considered for the job.

Jeanie needs to start hiring with her head, not her heart.

Get rid of Rob, the Rambis coalition et al, and get some credentialed professionals to run basketball operations.

She's not Robert Sarver, James Dolan bad.

But, she's nowhere near her Father either.

I called Magic a coward the day he quit- but with more context, and hearing that, of all people, that ROB PELINKA and JEANIE BUSS- 2 people that have zero credibility in the world of basketball front offices were undermining Magic and ripping him behind his back makes Magic's actions make a lot more sense.

A quartet of Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and Linda and Kurt Rambis running an NBA franchise is a terrible terrible joke. There is not one person in the whole Lakers basketball operations who garners any kind of real respect.

The coaching search was a joke- and they basically spelled the doom of Vogel already by, pitifully, only giving him a 3 year deal, and making him take Kidd on as an assistant (cough, spy).

Every other coach in the NBA that has gotten hired has gotten AT LEAST A 4 year deal.

They make Vogel take a 3 year deal and force coaches on him- after the dragged their feet on Williams, and lowballed Ty Lue.

Ty Lue wanted nothing to do with Jason Kidd who has a bad reputation around the league. Ty Lue actually was going to hire Vogel to coach the defense- which I think would have been a great setup- you have Lue and his people skills dealing with LeBron and the kids, and Vogel running the defense and the X's and O's. Thats actually a very good setup if you ask me.

Vogel on a 3 year deal, coming off a failed stint with the Orlando Magic who made great improvements without him, with no relationship with LeBron, and having Kidd forced on him is a recipe for instant turmoil.

What are the odds that Vogel is actually the coach 3 years from now? If I gave you 5/1 odds that someone else would be coach ID still bet against it.

This looks like the old Cleveland Browns to me. JEanie Buss needs to do what Jimmy Haslem finally did----- hire a legit President like John Dorsey and get the fuck out of the way and let him do his job.

 

[wildturkey]

He was talked into taking the job by Jeanie with certain concessions (still taking care of his other businesses, for example). When it wasn't working for him anymore (and really, what purpose is a PBO without any decision-making power?), he decided he was done. I don't blame him whatsoever, as he shouldn't have been the hire in the first place (just like he never should've been hired as a coach). He needed a figurehead type role, and PBO is not remotely that when you have a first time GM hired under you at the same time.

Cowards way out? He found himself in a bad situation and got out. Any power structure that has business people affecting basketball decisions over who they have good relationships is what got someone like Magic into a position he wasn't qualified for in the first place. The Buss children need a veteran basketball mind to put in charge of the basketball side of the business and let him guide that part of the franchise. Office workers, stay the f out of basketball decisions.

He wasn't talked into it. He wanted it and was committed to it (check the tweet below). But then he didn't want to put the work in. And naturally when you're not putting the work in, others are going to form opinions on that, fill in that work, and all sorts of other stuff. Magic is just as much at fault here as everyone else and deserves every bit of blame tossed his way. Most of what he said on FT was just straight up bullshit to cover his own ass. And as someone who claims he cares about the Lakers, it was one of the most disgraceful and disrespectful things he could have done to the franchise he claims to love. Magic was a bitch the way he did this.



So...he either straight up lied on First Take (likely) or lied back then. Either way, he's a liar and everyone should take his side of the story with an entire salt shaker.

 

[larryjohn]

Do you actually believe that?\
Kidd is a 2 time head coach and one of the better head coaching candidates available. Presumably, he was the Lakers next choice after Vogel.
He isn't taking a job with the Lakers just to mentor 1 player. He has a "prominent role" which means he will be associate head or top asistant in charge of the offense, or something along those lines.

Someone reported that Lakers would not hire Kidd as HC now because of his past issues with Domestic Violence. (including claims that he hit his wife -- and broke her rib) It might be easier to make Kiodd the HC later if he is already an assistant and they need someone.

Also -- "managing Lebron" was a big reason why Lue took over for Blatt. If Lebron get frustrated, I could see him turning to Kidd as someone he feels he can talk to more. (both HOFers) And I could see Kidd get frustrated with Lebron/Vogel relationship and try to help.

 

[trojanfan12]

Someone reported that Lakers would not hire Kidd as HC now because of his past issues with Domestic Violence. (including claims that he hit his wife -- and broke her rib) It might be easier to make Kiodd the HC later if he is already an assistant and they need someone.

Also -- "managing Lebron" was a big reason why Lue took over for Blatt. If Lebron get frustrated, I could see him turning to Kidd as someone he feels he can talk to more. (both HOFers) And I could see Kidd get frustrated with Lebron/Vogel relationship and try to help.

Agree.

There hasn't been any comment that I know of from Lebron re: what he thinks of the Vogel hire.

Vogel did coach some Pacers teams that competed pretty well with Lebron teams, so maybe Lebron at least has some respect for him.

In his presser, Vogel talked about holding everyone accountable, so hopefully Lebron responds to that like he apparently did with Lue and Spo.

For it to truly work though, I think the Lakers FO will have to make it clear to Lebron that they back Vogel like the Heat did with Spo.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Agree.

There hasn't been any comment that I know of from Lebron re: what he thinks of the Vogel hire.

Vogel did coach some Pacers teams that competed pretty well with Lebron teams, so maybe Lebron at least has some respect for him.

In his presser, Vogel talked about holding everyone accountable, so hopefully Lebron responds to that like he apparently did with Lue and Spo.

For it to truly work though, I think the Lakers FO will have to make it clear to Lebron that they back Vogel like the Heat did with Spo.

by giving him a 3 year deal and forcing him to take Kidd they pretty much stamped "lame duck" on Vogel's forehead.

 

[shopson67]

by giving him a 3 year deal and forcing him to take Kidd they pretty much stamped "lame duck" on Vogel's forehead.

This is the reason I didn't like the idea of firing Luke. Fire him if you have a known replacement; don't just fire him, then have to conduct a search for your new hire.

Vogel is a solid hire, and Kidd being there is fine. I don't see the lame duck status personally. If they wanted Kidd to be the head coach, just do it and eliminate the ambiguity.

 

[Bart]

Life isn't fair. You thought you could post on AG freely, but we kicked you to the curb...Ouchie!

Kicked to the curb? LOL. I left of my own accord and can post there freely any time I want to got back. Who TF are you anyway over there? Why are you so afraid to reveal your identity?

 

[Bart]

I called Magic a coward the day he quit- but with more context, and hearing that, of all people, that ROB PELINKA and JEANIE BUSS- 2 people that have zero credibility in the world of basketball front offices were undermining Magic and ripping him behind his back makes Magic's actions make a lot more sense.

A quartet of Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and Linda and Kurt Rambis running an NBA franchise is a terrible terrible joke. There is not one person in the whole Lakers basketball operations who garners any kind of real respect.

The coaching search was a joke- and they basically spelled the doom of Vogel already by, pitifully, only giving him a 3 year deal, and making him take Kidd on as an assistant (cough, spy).

Every other coach in the NBA that has gotten hired has gotten AT LEAST A 4 year deal.

They make Vogel take a 3 year deal and force coaches on him- after the dragged their feet on Williams, and lowballed Ty Lue.

Ty Lue wanted nothing to do with Jason Kidd who has a bad reputation around the league. Ty Lue actually was going to hire Vogel to coach the defense- which I think would have been a great setup- you have Lue and his people skills dealing with LeBron and the kids, and Vogel running the defense and the X's and O's. Thats actually a very good setup if you ask me.

Vogel on a 3 year deal, coming off a failed stint with the Orlando Magic who made great improvements without him, with no relationship with LeBron, and having Kidd forced on him is a recipe for instant turmoil.

What are the odds that Vogel is actually the coach 3 years from now? If I gave you 5/1 odds that someone else would be coach ID still bet against it.

This looks like the old Cleveland Browns to me. JEanie Buss needs to do what Jimmy Haslem finally did----- hire a legit President like John Dorsey and get the fuck out of the way and let him do his job.

Excellent post. Jeannie has the control so for me she has to take the blame. How disconnected is Jeannie from everything if she doesn't even know that Magic was unhappy with his situation. Jeanie should have been speaking with Magic often and discussing his concerns about the organization, especially when Pelinka is supposedly sending her emails complaining about Magic. There was obviously inner turmoil within the organization which apparently Jeannie was doing nothing about it. If Jeannie was more in tune with the people she was directly managing then Magic’s dissatisfaction with his job should have not come as a surprise to her. In addition, Magic seemed to have a different understanding of his role in the organization than what others thought, but whose fault is that? Jeannie should have been clear about what Magic’s role in the organization to him and relevant staff. The fact that there was a discrepancy between what Magic thought his role was and what others thought his role was in speaks volumes about Jeannie’s inept management skills. As a Lakers fan, this extremely disconcerting because it is very evident that Jeannie has no idea what she is doing and the Lakers woes are far from over.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Lakers 2.0: The failed reboot of the NBA's crown jewel

absoutely crazy article about the Lakers and their dysfunction. I mean holy shit....some of this stuff is just too crazy.

Some of hte crazier excerpts in a very long, detailed and well written article:

--Jerry Buss died in February 2013. In the six seasons since, during which Jeanie Buss has principally been in charge of the organization, the Lakers, with 329 losses, are tied with the New York Knicks for the most in the NBA.

"I feel like everyone that's no longer there, as sad as it is that they're no longer there, it's a blessing," one former staffer said. "It's not a good place to be. It's not what Dr. Buss wanted it to be."


--Regarding Pelinka's fate, front-office staffers, coaching staff members and others close to the team point to the power and influence held by Linda Rambis. Her title within the Lakers is executive director of special projects, but Rambis, the wife of former Laker Kurt Rambis, is better known within and around the organization as perhaps Jeanie Buss' closest friend and confidant. And Linda Rambis, team staffers said, has long been an ardent supporter and ally of Pelinka for reasons some staffers said they don't fully understand. "Nobody gets it," one coaching staff member said.

In some circles around the NBA, Linda Rambis has been referred to as a "shadow owner" of the Lakers, a title that one front-office staffer said Rambis enjoys, noting: "She loves it," and that "she controls and manipulates Jeanie." Kurt Rambis -- a Lakers senior basketball adviser and close associate of Phil Jackson, the former Lakers coach and Jeanie Buss' ex-fiance -- sat in on the team's coaching meetings throughout the season, creating a sense of unease. Staffers had already suspected he would report back to Linda and thus Pelinka and Buss, but a Lakers spokesperson insisted Walton invited Kurt Rambis to those meetings.


--IN HIS INTRODUCTORY news conference in March 2017, Pelinka declared, "I'm a little bit of a storyteller by nature.
During the session, Pelinka quoted scripture. He compared joining the Lakers to "When Harry Met Sally." He talked about camping in Montana with Kobe Bryant. He talked about seeing a picture of a boy in a Syrian refugee camp wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey. He called Kobe Bryant a "North Star" and said Bryant's impact on the team was like sugar dissolving in coffee: "Once it's there, it's there forever

One story shared around the organization unfolded in March 2018, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was addressing the team at the Lakers' practice facility as part of the franchise's "Genius Talks" series.

Standing beside Johnson, Pelinka told a story about his former client, Bryant.
"There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden, and he had just seen 'The Dark Knight,'" Pelinka said. "Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he's like, 'Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked into that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.' So, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role.

"And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks."

"The Dark Knight" was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died. A source with direct knowledge said no such arrangement was made and no dinner ever took place.

 

[WiggyRuss]

-----In November, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Maverick Carter, LeBron's longtime business partner, met for lunch. James' agent, Rich Paul, was seated at a nearby table, and at one point, approached Silver to complain about Walton, multiple sources familiar with the interaction told ESPN. Paul said he didn't believe Walton was the right coach for the Lakers. Silver shrugged off the remark and asked whom Paul thought would be the right coach. Paul suggested Tyronn Lue.

---
"Coaches know Rich is trying to get them fired, and players know Rich is trying to get them traded," said one agent with ties to the Lakers, who called Paul's presence on the plane "destructive."

Given Klutch's access, rival agents -- even those representing players on the roster -- said they were wary of allowing young clients to join the Lakers, fearing they'd be recruited or poached.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Lakers 2.0: The failed reboot of the NBA's crown jewel

absoutely crazy article about the Lakers and their dysfunction. I mean holy shit....some of this stuff is just too crazy.

Some of hte crazier excerpts in a very long, detailed and well written article:

--Jerry Buss died in February 2013. In the six seasons since, during which Jeanie Buss has principally been in charge of the organization, the Lakers, with 329 losses, are tied with the New York Knicks for the most in the NBA.

"I feel like everyone that's no longer there, as sad as it is that they're no longer there, it's a blessing," one former staffer said. "It's not a good place to be. It's not what Dr. Buss wanted it to be."


--Regarding Pelinka's fate, front-office staffers, coaching staff members and others close to the team point to the power and influence held by Linda Rambis. Her title within the Lakers is executive director of special projects, but Rambis, the wife of former Laker Kurt Rambis, is better known within and around the organization as perhaps Jeanie Buss' closest friend and confidant. And Linda Rambis, team staffers said, has long been an ardent supporter and ally of Pelinka for reasons some staffers said they don't fully understand. "Nobody gets it," one coaching staff member said.

In some circles around the NBA, Linda Rambis has been referred to as a "shadow owner" of the Lakers, a title that one front-office staffer said Rambis enjoys, noting: "She loves it," and that "she controls and manipulates Jeanie." Kurt Rambis -- a Lakers senior basketball adviser and close associate of Phil Jackson, the former Lakers coach and Jeanie Buss' ex-fiance -- sat in on the team's coaching meetings throughout the season, creating a sense of unease. Staffers had already suspected he would report back to Linda and thus Pelinka and Buss, but a Lakers spokesperson insisted Walton invited Kurt Rambis to those meetings.


--IN HIS INTRODUCTORY news conference in March 2017, Pelinka declared, "I'm a little bit of a storyteller by nature.
During the session, Pelinka quoted scripture. He compared joining the Lakers to "When Harry Met Sally." He talked about camping in Montana with Kobe Bryant. He talked about seeing a picture of a boy in a Syrian refugee camp wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey. He called Kobe Bryant a "North Star" and said Bryant's impact on the team was like sugar dissolving in coffee: "Once it's there, it's there forever

One story shared around the organization unfolded in March 2018, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was addressing the team at the Lakers' practice facility as part of the franchise's "Genius Talks" series.

Standing beside Johnson, Pelinka told a story about his former client, Bryant.
"There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden, and he had just seen 'The Dark Knight,'" Pelinka said. "Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he's like, 'Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked into that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.' So, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role.

"And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks."

"The Dark Knight" was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died. A source with direct knowledge said no such arrangement was made and no dinner ever took place.

That Heath Ledger thing - how the fuck did people in the room not just call him out right there? Fuck, The Rock was there why didn't he Rock Bottom him verbally?