Frank Vogel led the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory in his final game with the team on Sunday night, and Charles Barkley is among those who feel the head coach was not given a fair shot this season.
Shortly after the Lakers came from behind to defeat the Denver Nuggets in overtime, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Vogel will be fired as soon as Monday. That led to an awkward press conference in which Vogel told reporters that Lakers management had yet to speak with him about his future.
The Lakers have faced some criticism over the way they have handled Vogel’s dismissal. Some of the most animated came from Barkley, who said during TNT’s postgame show that Vogel has become a scapegoat for “whoever put these old a– geezers together.”
“They’ve scapegoated Frank, obviously, and (Russell Westbrook) all year. I told you from day one, the only chance this team has of being competitive is Anthony Davis. Clearly he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do. But to blame Frank and Russell (when) putting this old a– team together — ain’t enough Icy Hot, Bengay, WD-40 … they should try that for them old a– geezers.”
Barkley has been mocking the Lakers all season for the age of their roster. He ripped general manager Rob Pelinka with some similar comments several weeks ago.
The Lakers finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs. They probably had no choice but to fire Vogel and bring in a fresh face, but Pelinka and others should hold themselves accountable for constructing a poor roster. No coach is going to turn things around in L.A. unless Pelinka puts a much better team on the floor.
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