ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes Frank Vogel’s days as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers are already numbered, and he hasn’t even drawn up a single play. On Saturday, Vogel reportedly agreed to a three-year deal to coach the Lakers with the understanding that Jason Kidd would join his staff "in a prominent assistant coaching role," according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Lakers' insistence on having their next head coach bring Kidd onto their staff is what partially led to a breakdown in negotiations between the organization and Tyronn Lue. The franchise was able to convince Vogel to accept its terms, despite the overwhelming feeling that the front office was hedging its bets by having a backup coaching plan in place with Kidd.
"There's a reason why whether it was Monty Williams, whether it was Ty Lue, or anybody else, the caveat was that you had to accept Jason Kidd on your squad as a developmental coach," Smith says at the 36-second mark of the video above.
Stephen A. explains that the hiring of Vogel was the "safe" choice in comparison to Kidd and what he calls his "relatively uncomfortable past," which includes a 2001 domestic abuse charge and a 2012 DWI charge. Despite Kidd’s baggage, Smith asserts "you can expect" him to take over as Lakers’ head coach "within two years."
Vogel most notably rose to prominence during a three-season stretch as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, in which he led the team to a 147-62 record with three-straight playoff appearances. Each of those years, the Pacers were eliminated by the Big 3 of the Miami Heat.
