It came as little surprise when the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with head coach Frank Vogel on Monday following an extremely disappointing season that saw the team miss the playoffs.
Vogel oversaw the team while it went downhill in a hurry since winning the championship in 2019, winning only 42 and 33 games in 2020 and 2021. It certainly seems as if he struggled to implement Russell Westbrook into his offense in his first season in Los Angeles, turning Russ into a non-factor on most plays whenever he was without the ball.
Injuries throughout the year to LeBron James and Anthony Davis did not help matters, and the Lakers were clearly a sinking ship that Vogel couldn’t escape. The question now is what will the Lakers do this offseason to fix their issues going forward?
There doesn’t appear to be much cap flexibility going forward, as Westbrook is likely to take a massive $47 million player option in the offseason. Los Angeles will need to run it back with a similar team next season unless they make a big trade, which means that they will need to hire the right coach to make this situation work right away.
Fox Sports’s Shannon Sharpe discussed the situation Monday morning on Undisputed and he believes that the best candidate the Lakers can hire is former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson.
“I’m going with Mark Jackson,” said Sharpe. “I think he deserves another opportunity. I think that he is the foundation piece of what the current Warriors are today with Steph (Curry), Klay (Thompson), and Draymond (Green).”
.@ShannonSharpe on who he thinks should be the Lakers next head coach:
"I'm going with Mark Jackson, he deserves another opportunity. He was the foundation of what we see in the Warriors with Steph, Klay & Draymond." pic.twitter.com/KEgR2w1bfg
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) April 11, 2022
Jackson has not coached in the NBA since his tenure with the Warriors ended after the 2013-14 season.
During his time as head coach, Golden State’s record was only 121-109, but his last season saw the team make great strides towards becoming the dynasty they would become under Steve Kerr.
It would certainly be interesting to see Jackson get another chance as a head coach. Ultimately, if the past is any indication, LeBron will likely get a big say on who is the next head coach and it remains to be seen how he would feel about Jackson.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.