Charles Barkley Says Newly-Fired Lakers Coach Frank Vogel is ‘Getting Screwed,’ Blames Lakers Woes on ‘Whoever Put These Old-A** Geezers Together’

Amiliano FragosoApr 11th, 2022, 2:16 pm
 

The 2021-2022 NBA regular season has finally come to a close and it couldn’t have come sooner for the Los Angeles Lakers after one of the most disappointing seasons in the franchise’s history. The organization can finally look ahead to next season and tie up any loose ends they might have.

One of those was head coach Frank Vogel as it was announced by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski after Sunday’s finale that the journeyman head coach would be canned by the Lakers brass as they look to revamp the team heading into next season.

The surprising part about the whole situation was Vogel’s seemingly ignorance on his firing, giving his final press conference as a Laker Sunday during which he didn’t seem to know he was even let go.

Surely the long-time head coach had to see the writing on the wall — as rumors about his job status have swirled around for some time. On the off chance that Vogel wasn’t made aware first, that’s a pretty bad look for a Lakers organization that is now in the market for a new head coach and possible general manager if LeBron James will get out of the way.

The news prompted Charles Barkley and the Inside The NBA crew to discuss the matter after the game, to which Barkley claimed Vogel has been the scapegoat for the Lakers this season.

“Frank Vogel is getting screwed,” Barkley said, as Shaquille O’Neal agreed with him. “Because whoever put these old ass geezers together, they deserve the lion share (of the blame). They scapegoated Frank obviously and (Russell Westbrook) all year.

The Lakers made it official on Monday, releasing a statement about their title-winning former head coach.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Frank both on and off the court,” Rob Pelinka said, the Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. “Frank is a great coach and a good man. We will forever be grateful to him for his work in guiding us to the 2019-20 NBA championship. This is an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one we feel is necessary at this point. All of us here wish Frank and his wonderful family all the best for the future.”

The Vogel firing also has an interesting LeBron James statistic as Vogel marks the fifth coach that has been canned on a LeBron-led team.

Tags: