The Los Angeles Lakers are 27-35 and sit ninth in the Western Conference. After coming into the year with title aspirations, they’ve quietly turned into one of the league’s most disappointing squads.
By all accounts, head coach Frank Vogel is a goner. His repeated run-ins with the team’s stars have all but sealed his fate.
Because of that, many have taken to remembering current Dallas Mavericks coach and former Lakers assistant Jason Kidd.
At one point, he was supposed to be the heir apparent to Vogel.
This week, Kidd got brutally honest about the current state of affairs in Los Angeles.
“That’s family over there,” Kidd told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “We’ve gone through a lot of battles, won a championship. I’ve always wished those guys well … It’s tough, you know, to see Frank and those guys struggling in the sense of just trying to get healthy, trying to get together, get the chemistry going. But if there’s anyone who can get it going it’s Frank and LeBron (James).”
As far as Kidd is concerned, it’s too early to count the Lakers out at this juncture.
“Well, that’s the thing — you can never count LeBron out. And Frank,” Kidd said.
“And so again, last year, we had injuries, we played in the Play-In game, found a way to win that (against Golden State), found a way to take the lead in the Phoenix series — 2-1 —and then AD (Anthony Davis) goes down. And so again, as much as we talk about health, chemistry, this is Russ (Westbrook’s) first year here. As much as they probably wanted to click right away, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way.”
Kidd is someone who often has gotten a lot of criticism from various places. And it’s understandable – your own son hating you is never a great sign.
The photos speak for themselves.https://t.co/2wPyNSpPfr
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 5, 2022
But as a basketball mind, there’s an argument to be made that he is actually underrated. Something he would be the first to tell you, no less.
Will the Lakers rue the day they let Kidd walk away to the Mavericks when, theoretically, they could’ve had him as their next head coach? Time will tell, but it’s certainly looking like it.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
