After a highly disappointing season, the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers is out.
The team announced Monday that Frank Vogel has been fired as head coach after three seasons.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Frank both on and off the court," Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka said. "Frank is a great coach and a good man."
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The decision came after a rough season for the Lakers, who last week were eliminated from playoff contention after losing seven games in a row, per ESPN.
"Extremely disappointed," Vogel said. "Disappointed for our fan base. Disappointed for the Buss family, who gave us all this opportunity and we want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball and we fell short."
Indeed, The Associated Press called it "one of the most disappointing seasons in NBA history," while FiveThirtyEight deemed it a "trainwreck."
On Sunday, ESPN reported that Vogel would be fired and that this decision was "expected to be shared with him as soon as Monday." Asked about reports that he'd soon be fired, Vogel said "I haven't been told s--t" and that he'd "deal with tomorrow tomorrow."
Pelinka thanked Vogel for previously leading the Lakers to an NBA championship in 2020, calling his firing an "incredibly difficult decision to make, but one we feel is necessary at this point."
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