Frank Vogel Says If Lakers Win Title, There Should Be An Asterisk For How Much They've Overcome
Lakers coach Frank Vogel is not opposed to there being an asterisk next this season's NBA champion.
Only, he thinks it should signify how much they've overcome instead of implying that it wasn't a real victory.
"Our team’s been through a lot this year, we’ve endured, we’ve come out strong each time we’ve faced adversity, and if we’re able — I don’t know about other teams — but if we we're able to come through all of this and achieve the ultimate prize, I do think it deserves a 'harder than ordinary' asterisk, if you’re going to put an asterisk on it," Vogel said Wednesday in a video conference call.
Before the season even began, the Lakers were caught in a maelstrom of drama after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey voiced support for protests in Hong Kong. Then they had to navigate through extreme sorrow after Kobe Bryant, who spent all 20 seasons of his career with the Lakers, died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Then just as 35-year-old LeBron James was shouldering the team in the stretch run, the NBA was paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, disrupting the team's chemistry and leaving him in the lurch at the height of his game.
Vogel acknowledged there's no guarantees whether the Lakers will be able to resume where they left off.
"This isn’t a system and a core group of guys who have been together for four or five years that could just pick this up overnight," Vogel said. "It is going to take time...Just because our chemistry was great at the end of the hiatus, doesn’t mean it’s going to be there to start. We have to work for all of these things."
James, who is in his second season with the Lakers, will be playing alongside Anthony Davis for the first time in the playoffs when the Lakers, who are atop the Western Conference with a record of 49-14, compete for their first title in 10 seasons in Florida.
Alex Caruso said the team has maintained its chemistry during the hiatus, pointing to the fact that James and Jared Dudley were very vocal in their group text message chat, keeping them all connected. They also had group workouts over Zoom.
Caruso, however, thinks the Lakers have another hurdle.
"The hardest part for us, I think, is getting back to being able to do physically what we were able to do as far as being early on assignments, being physically ready to box out, to as physical as it takes to beat teams like the Clippers, like the Bucks, like the Rockets, like the Nuggets, all the good teams that are competing for championships and that are going to be in the playoffs," Caruso said Wednesday in a video conference call.
James shared that concern back in March when he said an extended break was not beneficial for him in an appearance on the Road Trippin' Podcast, adding, "My body when we stopped playing was asking me, 'What the hell are you doing?'"
But Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said Wednesday that every players he's seen so far has maintained world-class form during the hiatus.
Vogel added that he thinks the Lakers will be able to get past any hurdles, whether they're mental or physical.
"What I’ve learned about this group is that they’re committed, they like each other, they like the system that we’re playing in," Vogel said. "And all of those signs of character that we have with this group, the work ethic we have with this group, all of those things lead me to believe that we’re going to get the job done."
Vogel, however, acknowledged that losing Avery Bradley was a setback.
Bradley opted out of the season June 23 because his six-year-old son has struggled with past respiratory issues. He started in 44 games for the Lakers this season and was considered the lynchpin of their defense.
But Vogel said he thinks JR Smith, who the team officially signed Wednesday, will be a great asset for the team. Smith is a 15-year veteran who won a championship alongside James in Cleveland in 2016.
"This guy is a big-time player," Vogel said. "He’s proven it over the course of his career. We know he can help us. We almost added him earlier in the year when we added Dion Waiters and now we have the luxury of having both. We’re not going to ask him to come in and be Avery Bradley. He’s going to come in and be JR Smith."
Caruso said that filling the defensive void that Bradley leaves behind will be a group effort, adding that he's more than prepared to do his part.
"I’m not sure if I’m going to be the sole provider of everything that Avery did," Caruso said. "That’s a lot to ask for just because of how good he is at what he does. But I’m definitely going to be ready to fill part of that gap and that need."
As for Dwight Howard -- whose status on the team has been uncertain as he struggles with the death of his six-year-old son's mother -- Vogel said the Lakers don't have any intention to replace him on their roster.
"We don’t know what the level of participation is going to be yet," Vogel said. "He wants to play. We’re hopeful that he’s able to join us. He has an extenuating circumstance that he’s working with the league on in terms of what that is ultimately going to look like. But we’re hopeful and optimistic that he’ll be able to join us in Orlando."
The Lakers have had a lot of hurdles.
And they still have a lot of uncertainty and questions.
But one thing is for sure -- this team has found a way to power forward through anything this season.
Caruso wholeheartedly believes that whatever lies ahead will be no different.
"I’m looking forward to the challenge of lasting," Caruso said. "Of being the team that can be the mentally toughest, the mentally strongest and say, ‘Yeah, we might be on this isolated campus for three months, but we have a goal, we have a mission and it’s not going to affect us trying to that end goal and finish the job.’"
