Just last month, the Lakers lost their assistant coach for the past two years, Lionel Hollins, an accomplished NBA coach for decades.
According to the Athletic, Hollins decided to leave after he became discouraged with what he saw as a lack of candid communication from management.
Despite winning the championship in his first season as head coach, Frank Vogel finally received a contract extension earlier this month, more than a year after he won a title. This is awkward considering most coaches receive contract extensions relatively soon after winning a title. Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks recently got a three-year extension after just winning a title last month.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, many within league coaching circles assume that Vogel’s extension is only to add one year to his contract. Details of the extension have been super vague on the duration of the extension or any other specific details.
The Lakers did finally grant Vogel his long overdue contract extension on Aug. 6 to ensure that he would not enter this season as a lame duck with an expiring deal, but the ongoing lack of clarity about the extension specifics has led to the presumption in coaching circles that only one season has been tacked on despite the championship Vogel won in his first season in L.A.
Sensing a trend here?
The lack of clarity and communication on contract negotiations with departing and incumbent coaches seems to be a common theme. Rob Pelinka and Kurt Rambis appear to be super non-committal with coaching positions on a short-term basis.
With the NBA dominated so much by superstars, coaches are always the first ones on the chopping block when expectations aren’t met, and management is usually looking to coaches as quick scapegoats. If Vogel’s extension of one-year is indeed true, it would be safe to assume he would be on the hot seat if the Lakers fail to reach expectations of winning their 18th NBA championship.
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