Shaquille O’Neal calls out Lakers for firing Frank Vogel in ‘dirty’ way, implores other coaches not to join team

By David Akerman
Updated: April 15, 2022

The Los Angeles Lakers recently fired head coach Frank Vogel after a disastrous 2021-22 season.

Many people around the league have criticized the Lakers for the way in which Vogel was fired. Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal recently chimed in on the subject and also decided to go at the Lakers organization.

“Yeah, he was done dirty ’cause that’s how I heard I was getting traded,” said O’Neal before explaining how he felt disrespected by the Lakers during his playing days.

O’Neal later went on to implore other coaches to not “waste your time” with the Lakers. The legendary big man also said that if he were Vogel, he would’ve quit before officially getting fired by the franchise.

News of Vogel’s firing originally broke right after the Lakers’ season ended with an overtime win over the Denver Nuggets. He apparently hadn’t been informed of anything before the news broke.

Vogel spent three seasons as the head coach of the Lakers, gathering a 127-98 record in the regular season and 18-9 record in the playoffs. He won an NBA title in his first season with L.A.

Throughout the past two seasons, Vogel dealt with a plethora of injuries to many players on his roster. Those injuries definitely hurt L.A.’s chances of doing anything in the postseason in 2021 and 2022.

In the 2021 NBA Playoffs, the team lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round in six games. L.A. was unable to reach the postseason at all this season.

It will be interesting to see if any coaches decide not to join the Lakers as a result of the way Vogel was fired. Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who has been linked to the Lakers recently, apparently has become less interested in the Lakers because of how they handled Vogel’s firing.

Only time will tell who leads the Lakers into next season and beyond.