LOS ANGELES — It’s been the motto of the Lakers during their struggles in recent weeks: Don’t stop believing.
While the Lakers themselves have hewed to that confidence to varying degrees, opposing coaches say they have still seen the potential for the purple and gold to finally get their act together.
Recently, that’s been colored in part by coaches who know the Lakers’ players and staff well. So maybe Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was feeling a little nostalgia when he spoke about facing the Lakers – and LeBron James, whom he coached in Cleveland – for the fourth time this season.
“They have four Hall of Famers playing in the game tonight, even though they’re struggling,” Lue said. “They’re gonna be able to figure it out, I have no doubt about that. I’ve seen Bron in tough situations before and he’s always come out on top, so not worrying about that.”
While it’s common for coaches to be cautiously generous in their assessments of opponents, Dallas coach Jason Kidd’s words came from a particularly personal place. Kidd spent two seasons as Lakers coach Frank Vogel’s lead assistant, including the 2020 championship season, and his years with L.A. helped vault him to his third head coaching job. Kidd joked that Vogel was his “bigger brother” before noting that he’s actually older (48) than Vogel.
But Kidd also added that he’s borrowed Vogel’s defensive philosophy, which has helped the Mavericks become the NBA’s fifth-ranked defense (107.6 defensive rating) while ascending to fifth place in the Western Conference. Kidd also has mirrored Vogel’s straightforward coaching style of telling hard truths.
“Sometimes players don’t want to hear the truth, but they respect you as time goes on,” Kidd said. “Understanding when you’re honest with them, even if they don’t like it, you tend to get a better result. And so those are some of the things I picked up from Frank, but I would be here all day telling you the other things.”
Vogel said many of his colleagues in the coaching profession have kept in touch this season, and Kidd is among them. Kidd joked that Vogel missed a gift exchange when Dallas came through – he was expecting a bundle of the Lakers’ locker room snack mix – but warm feelings certainly remain.
“Frank is a great coach in this league,” Kidd said. “As much as we want to put blame on coaches, it’s a partnership. Players have to take accountability, too, and so he’s won a championship here in L.A., and so I think he’s going to be fine. They got the best player in the world, they just got to get healthy.”
Though he was listed as active 30 minutes before tip-off, Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker missed the game against the Clippers with a left ankle sprain. A team spokesman said Horton-Tucker determined that his ankle was not 100% after a pregame warm-up, and the team elected to hold him out.
Vogel also expanded on a comment he made after Wednesday’s practice, saying “if” Anthony Davis (sidelined with a foot sprain) returned this season, the Lakers believed they would have a chance. Asked both about the possibility of Davis and Kendrick Nunn’s return – or perhaps the idea that they wouldn’t play again – Vogel was noncommittal.
“We expect him to be back,” he said of Davis. “But he’s gotta be re-evaluated in four weeks, so I can’t tell you, I can’t forecast the future of what that evaluation is gonna show.”
On Nunn, he added: “I’m not really sure, to be honest. I mean I know he’s doing his work. I haven’t gotten a recent medical update on it.”
