One of the most-talked about people if things start to go south for the Los Angeles Lakers is Frank Vogel. When you sign up to be an NBA coach, that’s often how it goes but everyone also knows that things in the LeBron James Universe are amplified to another degree, even in the Space Jam universe.
But both sides are still in a honeymoon phase of sorts, with Vogel giving us a small insight into how his relationship with LeBron James has been thus far. In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Vogel said that James has been supportive ever since he was named head coach.
“I did feel support right from the start from LeBron,” Vogel said. “He’s always shown me a great deal of respect dating back to our battles when I was in Indiana and competing with the Heat in the conference finals, and coaching him in the All-Star Game. He’s always shown me a great deal of respect, so I felt like there would be a lot of support, and there was immediately and that’s continued on through up to this point. Hopefully we can work together to build something special.”
Vogel, as he mentions in the quote above, had the most consequential seasons of his coaching career come against LeBron James and the Miami Heat back in 2012 and 2013. Vogel managed to get back to the postseason again with the Pacers, but never reached the same heights he did in the years he had with Paul George, Roy Hibbert and David West.
However, Vogel has done a very smart job of discussing the changes he’s undergone with his own basketball philosophy since the days of leading a defense-first contender in Indiana. Defense of course matters, but Vogel has also discussed trying to improve the spacing for LeBron on the offensive end to better reflect the style of play that has taken the league over today.
