Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is embracing the current relationship he has with LeBron James, but sometimes he has had to put a limit on James’ quest for perfection during practice.
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The 47-year-old Vogel is in his first season coaching James, but has plenty of experience coaching against him during his previous head-coaching stops with the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic.
While Vogel was selected as the Lakers’ head coach only after James’ former coach, Tyronn Lue, rejected the team’s offer, the veteran coach has been able to forge a strong relationship with the future Hall of Famer.
Offering James the type of on-court freedom he craves, Vogel watched the superstar put up great all-around numbers prior to the March 11 shutdown.
In 60 games for the Lakers this season, the 35-year-old James has averaged 25.7 points, a league-high 10.6 assists, 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
That sort of production, coupled with the contributions of Anthony Davis and others, is vital to the Lakers’ hopes to compete for their first NBA title in a decade.
That’s because due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the resumption of the 2019-20 season, the Lakers will be without the services of guard Avery Bradley because of potential health concerns.
Bradley’s absence will make the Lakers’ road to a championship more difficult, but James has past experience with such challenges.
Four years ago, he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the franchise’s first-ever title, with the Cavs becoming the first team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals. For his efforts, he was named Finals MVP for the third time in his career.
However, before any thoughts of playing in the finals are pondered, James and Vogel have to get back on the court, with the Lakers’ first game scheduled for July 30 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
