January 20, 2022 • 19 mins
In hour 4 of The Jason Smith Show, Jason and Mike react to the Lakers falling to the Indiana Pacers in what many thought was a must-win in terms of Frank Vogel's coaching life. Then, we hear from LeBron and Frank after their loss, including Vogel's decision and explanation on why he didn't play Russell Westbrook in the 4th quarter.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two a m Eastern seven to eleven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Fox
Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every night
on the I Heart Radio app by searching fs R.
(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio The
Jason Smith Show with My best friend Mike Harmon. Mike Harmon,
also known as the Hobo Hobo, the Hobo Lincoln Hike
one through cards here it is. I can run with that.
(00:44):
We got an big time power hour coming your way
in the next sixty minutes. Canna hear from Eric Dickerson,
who joined us on the show. Got a new book
coming out, told us some of phenomenal stories about the Rams,
And uh, maybe Mike and I are getting a Super Bowl.
I mean that's the hop. Yeah. Well, I mean, look,
I picked against them, but if if they win and
(01:05):
it nets me a ring or commemorative plaque pair of
old Eric Dickerson warrened goggles, because that's what the question
I wanted to ask, But I felt I need to
do that in back channels. If they're still there. You
want you, you want to do it the right way,
that's fine. Yeah, I got it. I got it. No,
I mean you can't say hey on national areas. How
about you send me stuff? Well I asked for I
(01:27):
asked for a Super Bowl ring if they well know that.
But he like he, he can only put in a
good word for you. He doesn't control. Oh, sure, that's
part of the opera. Well, I mean he's he's a
powerful man, two time Hall of Famer, now that he's
into the College Football Hall of Fame as well. So
he certainly has his clout, even though clout with a
k uh that app no longer exists. Uh, speaking of Cloud,
(01:51):
you know who has none. Uh. This is how things
are for the Lakers right now, as Frank Vogel watch
maybe nearing its end. Uh. Tonight, the Lakers lose to
the Pacers. And here are the biggest hits from this game.
They blow a lead and get outscored thirty five twenty
(02:14):
four and the fourth quarter to lose to the Pacers
at home at the Crypt one oh four. Pacers are terrible.
They were fourteen games under five hundred coming into this
game tonight. They were also oh and nineteen this season
when they were losing at halftime and the Lakers were
up at halftime by five, the first game the Pacers
(02:37):
won this season that they were trailing at halftime. If
that's not bad enough for Frank Vogel. The last three
tweets by Magic Johnson tonight, in fact, the only tweets
by Magic Johnson tonight. We can't play the Magic Johnson
Twitter game because I want to prove a point here,
um his three tweets tonight, right, the three tweets Magic
(02:58):
Johnson has had tonight. The Joker at forty nine points
fourteen rebounds in tennis? Is this man better be? In
the m v P conversation? Did you see that? There
was a great play at overtime As Gascon was talking,
they did a move where he comes across half court
and Zubats tried to basically tackle him, and the referee
just looked at him like I'm not calling that file like,
(03:21):
so Yogis throws him off him, gets the ball, goes
down the lane and then the executes an and one.
It was hilarious. It's because they're all standing around going
clearly I followed him and then if you don't call
that clearly, evolved me and play on. So Magic tweets
about Yokichen his big night in overtime and ten he
(03:43):
should be in the m v P race. The next
tweet was about Luka Donsi, who says Lucas trying to
add his name to the m v P race with
forty one points and fourteen rebounds. Not to be outdone,
Magic wanted to make sure to also say Joel em
Beat has been great all season long. He scored fifty
points and twelve rebounds against Orlando. This is how bad
(04:03):
it is. Not even Magic Johnson is paying attention to
the Lakers just tweeting about him Beat again. He didn't
really want to. In the last few minutes he's been
talking about more about him beating. Yeah, and he felt
bad that the last two tweets he said, joke, it
should be in the m v P conversation and showed
so should Luca. He felt bad he didn't say that
(04:25):
about embiid. So he had that other tweet going, oh, yeah,
let's make sure I want to make sure him beats
not mad at me. He should be in the m
v p conversation too, so they not even Magic is
paying attention to the Lakers. I mean, what else do
you need? I mean, really, this is it's Look, it's
not Frank Vogel's fault, but obviously what happens when you
want to inspire a team to play better, the head
(04:45):
coach is the guy that always goes. And the Lakers
played a pretty inspired first three quarters tonight, But quite honestly,
they looked a lot like the Lakers at the beginning
of the season, where they would play great for three quarters,
look like they have so much energy, and then the
fourth quarter they would just play from the neck up
like they had absolutely nothing left and they couldn't buy
a bucket and the other team ran up and down
the floor on them. So, yeah, when you lose to
(05:09):
a team four teen games under five hundred at home,
when you're in the midst of playing coaching for your job,
how much longer is Frank Vogel going to be the
head coach? Right? They play Friday at Orlando. Right, Orlando's
won eight games this year. Mo Bamba is ready, if
the mobile already tonight and wait man look out, be
(05:30):
sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
Check if you want exclusive insight from the biggest names
in the sports game. What's good? This is national champion
in former pro baller Chris Johnson. Let me tell you
a little bit about my new series kJ Live. J
(05:51):
Live is the only show featuring me going one on
one with the brightest basketball minds on the planet to
get the real And when I say real, I mean
that rio I got legendary Hall of famers, elite coaches
in the top basketball Inside is bringing you a unique
perspective on all things hoops culture that you will not
find where to make your next move your best move
(06:14):
and tap in with me on kJ live wherever you
get your podcast from. Definitively, if the Lakers lose this
game Friday against against the Orlando the Lakers will have
a new head coach for for the next game, because
then you're not gonna go through back to back games
against against two teams that you should beat that are
(06:35):
wins and and continue to go on and say, Okay,
things are gonna be okay, Look the Lakers are the Lakers.
Plan isn't too We gotta get better, get back in
this race and get the first place. No, the Lakers, Look,
the Lakers are still They're a game under five hundred, right.
What they're hoping for is we gotta just stay in
the seven ten playing round. And clearly you can do
that because look, you're twenty two and twenty three, the
(06:58):
Kings are eighteen and twenty nine. You have a six
game lead on that. You're just worried about. Let's get
ready for the playoffs. If we can make it up
out of the playing round, great, but if we don't,
we don't we get it. We just want to be
playing well enough so we can get that night. You
really you don't want to play the sons of the
Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. But still
you gotta play the hand that's dealt. So the Lakers
(07:18):
have time to get it right, but they're not gonna
wait to make those moves. And and Vogel unfortunately, it's
going to be the first thing. And it's it's it's
no more player than you can see. Tonight, you lost
to a team that you should have beat very comfortably,
whether you have Anthony Davis or not, and you didn't.
And then it may happen anyway. It may happen before Friday,
(07:38):
it may have So so the next coach coming in,
whether it's Kurt Rambus or Phil Jacks, wherever it is,
can get an easy win under their belt and and
and make it hit the ground running. But it maybe
before Friday, but clearly if they lose Friday to the Magic,
that's gonna be Frank Vogel's last game. I mean, it's
crazy because you're talking about a guy who was just
a season and a half removed from winning the NBA Championship.
(07:59):
But things aren't going well and you can't waste any
more time for Lebron James. And there's gonna be other
changes that follow, and Vogel is going to be the
first one. Yeah. I mean this really comes down to
if you've decided he's done, stop dragging it out. Either
that or you've got to have the greatest vote of
confidence with clowns, balloons and you know, confetti, uh, to
(08:21):
really sell your points. I mean, I'll be curious, doesn't
Lebron James meet the media after this one because he
ducked on that terrible blowout loss to the Nuggets the
other day. Uh, and then just posted up put up
his tweet, I apologize and I promise will be better.
You know, the hashtag Laker Nation. So you know you've
got that going for you. So that's the other part
(08:42):
of this, like, when are you going to address this?
Lebronka's the elephant is stamping around the room as we
speak right now. Uh, Frank Vogel, you know we can
all agree the the logic is he shouldn't. But again,
in the fourth quarter, this goes. I mean, it's better
than it was early in the season. Remember they couldn't.
They didn't play very well in the third quarter night
(09:02):
after night. At least they're extending, uh, your misery by
giving you hope by and playing good through three quarters,
playing well through three quarters before the ultimate collapse. But
you know, rip the band aid off. I mean, I
I don't know what you do internally, because otherwise you
probably would have already done it at this point, right
(09:23):
you're past the midpoint of the season. Well, look it
it's it's it's a combination of when we decide to
make the move, when do we start looking like like
if the Lakers are started, look the Lakers front office,
you know how they run things. Uh, do you I
really think they could have been looking for a coach
and we wouldn't have heard that by now Lakers talking
(09:44):
to Fizdale about Lakers talking to Rambis, we would have
found out. So the way that the way they kind
of operate is let's make a decision and then we'll
get our coach, because it's not gonna be it's not
gonna be very fast and and the and the Lakers
are operating on or the under the strategy of let's
get the right guy in, let's make moves, and and
(10:05):
let's get up here. We don't have to worry about
getting things done right now, but we want to make
decisions in a in a timely manner. So if they
they take this next couple of days, okay, now we're done,
and then by Monday there's their new head coach, and
or if it fills in that way, that's kind of
the timeline. I get. This isn't like the NFL or
you know, hey, we were firing a coach. We gotta
go get somebody else. It's a midseason replacement. You're not
(10:28):
gonna get anybody that's gonna show up. That's that's that's
gonna blow the doors off. He would say, who can
come and stop the bleeding and be able to get
us going in the other direction. And you know you're
you're not gonna sit here and go, Okay, we got
like seventeen guys to call. There's gonna be one or
two phone calls. I'm gonna say, who do we like?
We like these two guys, what do we like out
of that? That's what we call and offer the job to.
That's kind of how they're gonna do it. So I'm
(10:48):
actually okay with the timeline for it because that's just
simply the way the Lakers operate, and and you can't
keep stuff like that secret, especially in Los Angeles. Would
have gotten out. So that's kind of the timeline and
framework they're operating with interim coaches. Let's see if you
can get a bounce. Now. Look, hey, number two things
(11:09):
number one more bomba is now trending nationwide. Bomba. Everybody mo,
bill mo? Sorry, nicely done from Bill Orram of The
Athletic asked why Russell Westbrook finished the game on the bench.
Frank Vogel said, he was, quote playing the guys. I
thought we're gonna win the game. Where's my dumpster fire?
(11:33):
Alex hold On, Let's fire it up. We haven't heard
it in a while. Yes, I just through the entire
gasoline cannon into the dumpster. I have created fire. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
(11:53):
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio
app Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My
best Friend Mike Harmon. Uh. Pacers put out a tweet
in their social media page, Loss Angeles with two s
is the Pacers, who are fourteen games under five hundred
(12:16):
boat race the Lakers in the fourth quarter to win
one even one oh four. The Pacers were oh in
nineteen when trailing at halftime of games this year after tonight,
they are one in nineteen. Frank Vogel watch wow wow
wow wow. Um. Look, we said it earlier in the hour.
(12:36):
It maybe before Friday. If the Lakers go into Orlando
and lose, that's gonna be it. And and you can
blame Frank Vogel or not, but this is just how
it works in the NBA. The Lakers will have big
moves happening, and the first one is going to be coaching.
And when a guy is coaching for his job and
you can't win at home against a team that's fourteen
(12:56):
games under five hundred, what does that tell you? Right?
And you can tell things are now getting to the
boiling point in Los Angeles. Maybe it's Kurt Rambis. Kurt
Rampis is actually trending on Twitter right now. Linda Rambis
right now was going, just sign right here, Jennie, I
can have I could have Kurt signed this day. He
could be ready to go in Orlando on Friday. Just
signed right here. Uh. Lebron James did not want to
(13:17):
have any questions about Frank Vogel, his status, if he's staying,
if he's going. This was Lebron answering the media just
a few moments ago. Listen, I'm not I'm not. I'm
not in that business of hinty fingers or a pointy
blame or trying to uh put a quote at the
end or had to start of somebody's uh a someone's
(13:40):
commentator of what they feel, you know, our coach staff
or or Frank is or where russis or where I'm
at or eighty um, if it's not positive for me,
I'm cool. It's not it's not my it's not my lame.
I'm not a person. So you got something you know, Yes,
I'm beside, but you probably don't. It's like no, Like,
(14:07):
as as the game was ending tonight, it looked like
you were having words with somebody, either on the baseline
or the bench. I was just wondering if you could.
I don't know, because the angle I was at, it
looked like maybe you're talking to somebody on the baseline,
like you're yelling at somebody on the baseline, or it
could have been towards the bench. Also, I was just wondering.
I remember, I don't know, and I usually remember everything,
(14:29):
and so you have to literally let me know exactly
what's going on. But there's a lot of conversation throughout
a forty minute game and for the eight minute game,
throughout the two and a half hours that you on
the floor, if you don't count you know, locker room halftime,
you know, warm up stains of that kind of that nature. So, um,
I don't know exactly what we said. Who I was
(14:49):
even talking to that one? Yeah? Right, okay, uh yeah, Lebron,
who does remember everything? Yeah, I don't know. What was said.
I don't know what I'm gonna pretend that that. I
just can't remember what that conversation was. What he said
there in the middle was if you want to ask
me a question that's not gonna take a blank on somebody. Uh,
then I'm all for that. But I'm about positivity and
(15:10):
I'm not about negativity. And yeah, look it sucks. It
always sucks when when when you know your coach is
probably gonna get fired and and and the team put together. Look,
this is it's it's a referendum on Lebron the GM
because what they put together isn't working. And and every
time the Lakers thought, well, we get we've won two
games in a row, no, then they lose a game
like this. This is just who they are. If they
(15:32):
continued on without any changes, they would just be a
five hundred team throughout the season. They'd finish forty one
and forty one. And maybe it's good enough to get
in the playoffs, maybe it's good enough to squeak in
in the playing round, but that's where they would be.
So unfortunately, a change is gonna come because it has
to and may come before Friday. But if the Lakers
lose Friday. That's it. You're talking about back to back
(15:52):
losses to the Pacers and the Magic who have eight wins,
and Mo Bamba is just salivating right now after his
thirty two point night tonight, ready for the Lakers on Friday. Yeah,
that's that will happen in Kurt Rambis or somebody else
named Rambis may wind up being the head coach next Yeah.
I think with Lebron James, other than that really cool
(16:13):
Neon pink Rams had he was sporting. Uh, you wanted
no part of this, and you remember, like it's like
when Aaron Rodgers said he had no idea who ub
Artish was. Don't lie to us. And I'm seeing a
lot starting to flow of all right, how this roster
was constructed, going all the way back to the trade
for Anthony Davis. Okay, we talked about it. In the
(16:36):
moment you're pushing all in to go and try to
get a ring, and he got your ring. So you
can't lay it at the feet of that trade saying well,
if you hadn't done all that is like, well, you
don't know where you would have been with Those guys
have have developed in the same way that they have
having left Los Angeles, you could say that was probably
what a coin flip at best, right, that that was
(16:58):
necessarily going to happen. But now you know, add Russell
Westbrook to the mix, it's like, what's his trade value
after tonight? Mmmm uh. But speaking of Frank Vogel and
Russell Westbrook, when Westbrook wasn't on the court when the
Lakers needed some points and needed to try to come
back and win this game, he was asked, Hey, how
(17:20):
come Westbrook wasn't out there, Frank, Frank, you m opted
to go with Russ on the bench at the end
of the game. What were you what were what were
you looking for there? What was the thinking behind that,
behind that choice? Playing the guys I thought we're gonna
win the game? Who I'm playing the guys that I
thought we're gonna win the game, and it's not Russell Westbrook.
So apparently Frank Vogel ready to go out in a
(17:42):
blaze of glory because you know what, Westbrook hasn't worked.
This isn't So I'm finally gonna say that I've had
it with Russell Westbrook. I've had it with this whole thing.
It's his vault I'm playing, guys, are gonna help us
win the game? Yeah, that's not what you say. If
you're really going crazy to say of your job, you
want to make sure the players are all fighting for you,
(18:04):
because it's gonna be a lot easier to replace Frank
Vogel than it is to trade Russell Westbrook. So when
you throw that line in the sand, this is almost
when you're beat. You're daring the team to fire you
or you gotta pick me or him. I know you're
not gonna pick me. So if you're not gonna pick me,
just get on with it. And maybe you do pick me,
and maybe that helps a little bit, But that's not
how you act. If you're in a job saving mode,
you want all the players to have your back. Well,
(18:25):
you realize that you're in an unwinnable, untenable situation. So
at this point, you know, if you're gonna get a
bunch of criticism for not playing him final three fifty
two of the game, Uh, you push push back, and
and that's your answer to it. Just like you know what,
if you're gonna fire me, fire me. It's like Samuel
Morgan Freeman going to Shawshank right and He's sitting in
(18:47):
front of the parole more and just says, you know,
stamp your forms because I don't give a damn anymore.
That's exactly what he did right there. I wouldn't be
surprised to wake up tomorrow morning and find out Frank
Vogel is not the Lakers head CO. Wouldn't be surprised
would happened after Friday. But boy, after tonight, it looks
like that's what's going on. Uh. Coming up next, my
buddy Ben Mallor from Mike, I'm Jason. You are listening
(19:09):
to Fox Sports Radio. Wow wow wow wow wow wow
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two a m Eastern seven to eleven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Fox
Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every night
on the I Heart Radio app by searching fs R.
(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio The
Jason Smith Show with My best friend Mike Harmon. Mike Harmon,
also known as the Hobo Hobo, the Hobo Lincoln Hike
one through cards here it is. I can run with that.
(00:44):
We got an big time power hour coming your way
in the next sixty minutes. Canna hear from Eric Dickerson,
who joined us on the show. Got a new book
coming out, told us some of phenomenal stories about the Rams,
And uh, maybe Mike and I are getting a Super Bowl.
I mean that's the hop. Yeah. Well, I mean, look,
I picked against them, but if if they win and
(01:05):
it nets me a ring or commemorative plaque pair of
old Eric Dickerson warrened goggles, because that's what the question
I wanted to ask, But I felt I need to
do that in back channels. If they're still there. You
want you, you want to do it the right way,
that's fine. Yeah, I got it. I got it. No,
I mean you can't say hey on national areas. How
about you send me stuff? Well I asked for I
(01:27):
asked for a Super Bowl ring if they well know that.
But he like he, he can only put in a
good word for you. He doesn't control. Oh, sure, that's
part of the opera. Well, I mean he's he's a
powerful man, two time Hall of Famer, now that he's
into the College Football Hall of Fame as well. So
he certainly has his clout, even though clout with a
k uh that app no longer exists. Uh, speaking of Cloud,
(01:51):
you know who has none. Uh. This is how things
are for the Lakers right now, as Frank Vogel watch
maybe nearing its end. Uh. Tonight, the Lakers lose to
the Pacers. And here are the biggest hits from this game.
They blow a lead and get outscored thirty five twenty
(02:14):
four and the fourth quarter to lose to the Pacers
at home at the Crypt one oh four. Pacers are terrible.
They were fourteen games under five hundred coming into this
game tonight. They were also oh and nineteen this season
when they were losing at halftime and the Lakers were
up at halftime by five, the first game the Pacers
(02:37):
won this season that they were trailing at halftime. If
that's not bad enough for Frank Vogel. The last three
tweets by Magic Johnson tonight, in fact, the only tweets
by Magic Johnson tonight. We can't play the Magic Johnson
Twitter game because I want to prove a point here,
um his three tweets tonight, right, the three tweets Magic
(02:58):
Johnson has had tonight. The Joker at forty nine points
fourteen rebounds in tennis? Is this man better be? In
the m v P conversation? Did you see that? There
was a great play at overtime As Gascon was talking,
they did a move where he comes across half court
and Zubats tried to basically tackle him, and the referee
just looked at him like I'm not calling that file like,
(03:21):
so Yogis throws him off him, gets the ball, goes
down the lane and then the executes an and one.
It was hilarious. It's because they're all standing around going
clearly I followed him and then if you don't call
that clearly, evolved me and play on. So Magic tweets
about Yokichen his big night in overtime and ten he
(03:43):
should be in the m v P race. The next
tweet was about Luka Donsi, who says Lucas trying to
add his name to the m v P race with
forty one points and fourteen rebounds. Not to be outdone,
Magic wanted to make sure to also say Joel em
Beat has been great all season long. He scored fifty
points and twelve rebounds against Orlando. This is how bad
(04:03):
it is. Not even Magic Johnson is paying attention to
the Lakers just tweeting about him Beat again. He didn't
really want to. In the last few minutes he's been
talking about more about him beating. Yeah, and he felt
bad that the last two tweets he said, joke, it
should be in the m v P conversation and showed
so should Luca. He felt bad he didn't say that
(04:25):
about embiid. So he had that other tweet going, oh, yeah,
let's make sure I want to make sure him beats
not mad at me. He should be in the m
v p conversation too, so they not even Magic is
paying attention to the Lakers. I mean, what else do
you need? I mean, really, this is it's Look, it's
not Frank Vogel's fault, but obviously what happens when you
want to inspire a team to play better, the head
(04:45):
coach is the guy that always goes. And the Lakers
played a pretty inspired first three quarters tonight, But quite honestly,
they looked a lot like the Lakers at the beginning
of the season, where they would play great for three quarters,
look like they have so much energy, and then the
fourth quarter they would just play from the neck up
like they had absolutely nothing left and they couldn't buy
a bucket and the other team ran up and down
the floor on them. So, yeah, when you lose to
(05:09):
a team four teen games under five hundred at home,
when you're in the midst of playing coaching for your job,
how much longer is Frank Vogel going to be the
head coach? Right? They play Friday at Orlando. Right, Orlando's
won eight games this year. Mo Bamba is ready, if
the mobile already tonight and wait man look out, be
(05:30):
sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific.
Check if you want exclusive insight from the biggest names
in the sports game. What's good? This is national champion
in former pro baller Chris Johnson. Let me tell you
a little bit about my new series kJ Live. J
(05:51):
Live is the only show featuring me going one on
one with the brightest basketball minds on the planet to
get the real And when I say real, I mean
that rio I got legendary Hall of famers, elite coaches
in the top basketball Inside is bringing you a unique
perspective on all things hoops culture that you will not
find where to make your next move your best move
(06:14):
and tap in with me on kJ live wherever you
get your podcast from. Definitively, if the Lakers lose this
game Friday against against the Orlando the Lakers will have
a new head coach for for the next game, because
then you're not gonna go through back to back games
against against two teams that you should beat that are
(06:35):
wins and and continue to go on and say, Okay,
things are gonna be okay, Look the Lakers are the Lakers.
Plan isn't too We gotta get better, get back in
this race and get the first place. No, the Lakers, Look,
the Lakers are still They're a game under five hundred, right.
What they're hoping for is we gotta just stay in
the seven ten playing round. And clearly you can do
that because look, you're twenty two and twenty three, the
(06:58):
Kings are eighteen and twenty nine. You have a six
game lead on that. You're just worried about. Let's get
ready for the playoffs. If we can make it up
out of the playing round, great, but if we don't,
we don't we get it. We just want to be
playing well enough so we can get that night. You
really you don't want to play the sons of the
Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. But still
you gotta play the hand that's dealt. So the Lakers
(07:18):
have time to get it right, but they're not gonna
wait to make those moves. And and Vogel unfortunately, it's
going to be the first thing. And it's it's it's
no more player than you can see. Tonight, you lost
to a team that you should have beat very comfortably,
whether you have Anthony Davis or not, and you didn't.
And then it may happen anyway. It may happen before Friday,
(07:38):
it may have So so the next coach coming in,
whether it's Kurt Rambus or Phil Jacks, wherever it is,
can get an easy win under their belt and and
and make it hit the ground running. But it maybe
before Friday, but clearly if they lose Friday to the Magic,
that's gonna be Frank Vogel's last game. I mean, it's
crazy because you're talking about a guy who was just
a season and a half removed from winning the NBA Championship.
(07:59):
But things aren't going well and you can't waste any
more time for Lebron James. And there's gonna be other
changes that follow, and Vogel is going to be the
first one. Yeah. I mean this really comes down to
if you've decided he's done, stop dragging it out. Either
that or you've got to have the greatest vote of
confidence with clowns, balloons and you know, confetti, uh, to
(08:21):
really sell your points. I mean, I'll be curious, doesn't
Lebron James meet the media after this one because he
ducked on that terrible blowout loss to the Nuggets the
other day. Uh, and then just posted up put up
his tweet, I apologize and I promise will be better.
You know, the hashtag Laker Nation. So you know you've
got that going for you. So that's the other part
(08:42):
of this, like, when are you going to address this?
Lebronka's the elephant is stamping around the room as we
speak right now. Uh, Frank Vogel, you know we can
all agree the the logic is he shouldn't. But again,
in the fourth quarter, this goes. I mean, it's better
than it was early in the season. Remember they couldn't.
They didn't play very well in the third quarter night
(09:02):
after night. At least they're extending, uh, your misery by
giving you hope by and playing good through three quarters,
playing well through three quarters before the ultimate collapse. But
you know, rip the band aid off. I mean, I
I don't know what you do internally, because otherwise you
probably would have already done it at this point, right
(09:23):
you're past the midpoint of the season. Well, look it
it's it's it's a combination of when we decide to
make the move, when do we start looking like like
if the Lakers are started, look the Lakers front office,
you know how they run things. Uh, do you I
really think they could have been looking for a coach
and we wouldn't have heard that by now Lakers talking
(09:44):
to Fizdale about Lakers talking to Rambis, we would have
found out. So the way that the way they kind
of operate is let's make a decision and then we'll
get our coach, because it's not gonna be it's not
gonna be very fast and and the and the Lakers
are operating on or the under the strategy of let's
get the right guy in, let's make moves, and and
(10:05):
let's get up here. We don't have to worry about
getting things done right now, but we want to make
decisions in a in a timely manner. So if they
they take this next couple of days, okay, now we're done,
and then by Monday there's their new head coach, and
or if it fills in that way, that's kind of
the timeline. I get. This isn't like the NFL or
you know, hey, we were firing a coach. We gotta
go get somebody else. It's a midseason replacement. You're not
(10:28):
gonna get anybody that's gonna show up. That's that's that's
gonna blow the doors off. He would say, who can
come and stop the bleeding and be able to get
us going in the other direction. And you know you're
you're not gonna sit here and go, Okay, we got
like seventeen guys to call. There's gonna be one or
two phone calls. I'm gonna say, who do we like?
We like these two guys, what do we like out
of that? That's what we call and offer the job to.
That's kind of how they're gonna do it. So I'm
(10:48):
actually okay with the timeline for it because that's just
simply the way the Lakers operate, and and you can't
keep stuff like that secret, especially in Los Angeles. Would
have gotten out. So that's kind of the timeline and
framework they're operating with interim coaches. Let's see if you
can get a bounce. Now. Look, hey, number two things
(11:09):
number one more bomba is now trending nationwide. Bomba. Everybody mo,
bill mo? Sorry, nicely done from Bill Orram of The
Athletic asked why Russell Westbrook finished the game on the bench.
Frank Vogel said, he was, quote playing the guys. I
thought we're gonna win the game. Where's my dumpster fire?
(11:33):
Alex hold On, Let's fire it up. We haven't heard
it in a while. Yes, I just through the entire
gasoline cannon into the dumpster. I have created fire. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
(11:53):
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio
app Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My
best Friend Mike Harmon. Uh. Pacers put out a tweet
in their social media page, Loss Angeles with two s
is the Pacers, who are fourteen games under five hundred
(12:16):
boat race the Lakers in the fourth quarter to win
one even one oh four. The Pacers were oh in
nineteen when trailing at halftime of games this year after tonight,
they are one in nineteen. Frank Vogel watch wow wow
wow wow. Um. Look, we said it earlier in the hour.
(12:36):
It maybe before Friday. If the Lakers go into Orlando
and lose, that's gonna be it. And and you can
blame Frank Vogel or not, but this is just how
it works in the NBA. The Lakers will have big
moves happening, and the first one is going to be coaching.
And when a guy is coaching for his job and
you can't win at home against a team that's fourteen
(12:56):
games under five hundred, what does that tell you? Right?
And you can tell things are now getting to the
boiling point in Los Angeles. Maybe it's Kurt Rambis. Kurt
Rampis is actually trending on Twitter right now. Linda Rambis
right now was going, just sign right here, Jennie, I
can have I could have Kurt signed this day. He
could be ready to go in Orlando on Friday. Just
signed right here. Uh. Lebron James did not want to
(13:17):
have any questions about Frank Vogel, his status, if he's staying,
if he's going. This was Lebron answering the media just
a few moments ago. Listen, I'm not I'm not. I'm
not in that business of hinty fingers or a pointy
blame or trying to uh put a quote at the
end or had to start of somebody's uh a someone's
(13:40):
commentator of what they feel, you know, our coach staff
or or Frank is or where russis or where I'm
at or eighty um, if it's not positive for me,
I'm cool. It's not it's not my it's not my lame.
I'm not a person. So you got something you know, Yes,
I'm beside, but you probably don't. It's like no, Like,
(14:07):
as as the game was ending tonight, it looked like
you were having words with somebody, either on the baseline
or the bench. I was just wondering if you could.
I don't know, because the angle I was at, it
looked like maybe you're talking to somebody on the baseline,
like you're yelling at somebody on the baseline, or it
could have been towards the bench. Also, I was just wondering.
I remember, I don't know, and I usually remember everything,
(14:29):
and so you have to literally let me know exactly
what's going on. But there's a lot of conversation throughout
a forty minute game and for the eight minute game,
throughout the two and a half hours that you on
the floor, if you don't count you know, locker room halftime,
you know, warm up stains of that kind of that nature. So, um,
I don't know exactly what we said. Who I was
(14:49):
even talking to that one? Yeah? Right, okay, uh yeah, Lebron,
who does remember everything? Yeah, I don't know. What was said.
I don't know what I'm gonna pretend that that. I
just can't remember what that conversation was. What he said
there in the middle was if you want to ask
me a question that's not gonna take a blank on somebody. Uh,
then I'm all for that. But I'm about positivity and
(15:10):
I'm not about negativity. And yeah, look it sucks. It
always sucks when when when you know your coach is
probably gonna get fired and and and the team put together. Look,
this is it's it's a referendum on Lebron the GM
because what they put together isn't working. And and every
time the Lakers thought, well, we get we've won two
games in a row, no, then they lose a game
like this. This is just who they are. If they
(15:32):
continued on without any changes, they would just be a
five hundred team throughout the season. They'd finish forty one
and forty one. And maybe it's good enough to get
in the playoffs, maybe it's good enough to squeak in
in the playing round, but that's where they would be.
So unfortunately, a change is gonna come because it has
to and may come before Friday. But if the Lakers
lose Friday. That's it. You're talking about back to back
(15:52):
losses to the Pacers and the Magic who have eight wins,
and Mo Bamba is just salivating right now after his
thirty two point night tonight, ready for the Lakers on Friday. Yeah,
that's that will happen in Kurt Rambis or somebody else
named Rambis may wind up being the head coach next Yeah.
I think with Lebron James, other than that really cool
(16:13):
Neon pink Rams had he was sporting. Uh, you wanted
no part of this, and you remember, like it's like
when Aaron Rodgers said he had no idea who ub
Artish was. Don't lie to us. And I'm seeing a
lot starting to flow of all right, how this roster
was constructed, going all the way back to the trade
for Anthony Davis. Okay, we talked about it. In the
(16:36):
moment you're pushing all in to go and try to
get a ring, and he got your ring. So you
can't lay it at the feet of that trade saying well,
if you hadn't done all that is like, well, you
don't know where you would have been with Those guys
have have developed in the same way that they have
having left Los Angeles, you could say that was probably
what a coin flip at best, right, that that was
(16:58):
necessarily going to happen. But now you know, add Russell
Westbrook to the mix, it's like, what's his trade value
after tonight? Mmmm uh. But speaking of Frank Vogel and
Russell Westbrook, when Westbrook wasn't on the court when the
Lakers needed some points and needed to try to come
back and win this game, he was asked, Hey, how
(17:20):
come Westbrook wasn't out there, Frank, Frank, you m opted
to go with Russ on the bench at the end
of the game. What were you what were what were
you looking for there? What was the thinking behind that,
behind that choice? Playing the guys I thought we're gonna
win the game? Who I'm playing the guys that I
thought we're gonna win the game, and it's not Russell Westbrook.
So apparently Frank Vogel ready to go out in a
(17:42):
blaze of glory because you know what, Westbrook hasn't worked.
This isn't So I'm finally gonna say that I've had
it with Russell Westbrook. I've had it with this whole thing.
It's his vault I'm playing, guys, are gonna help us
win the game? Yeah, that's not what you say. If
you're really going crazy to say of your job, you
want to make sure the players are all fighting for you,
(18:04):
because it's gonna be a lot easier to replace Frank
Vogel than it is to trade Russell Westbrook. So when
you throw that line in the sand, this is almost
when you're beat. You're daring the team to fire you
or you gotta pick me or him. I know you're
not gonna pick me. So if you're not gonna pick me,
just get on with it. And maybe you do pick me,
and maybe that helps a little bit, But that's not
how you act. If you're in a job saving mode,
you want all the players to have your back. Well,
(18:25):
you realize that you're in an unwinnable, untenable situation. So
at this point, you know, if you're gonna get a
bunch of criticism for not playing him final three fifty
two of the game, Uh, you push push back, and
and that's your answer to it. Just like you know what,
if you're gonna fire me, fire me. It's like Samuel
Morgan Freeman going to Shawshank right and He's sitting in
(18:47):
front of the parole more and just says, you know,
stamp your forms because I don't give a damn anymore.
That's exactly what he did right there. I wouldn't be
surprised to wake up tomorrow morning and find out Frank
Vogel is not the Lakers head CO. Wouldn't be surprised
would happened after Friday. But boy, after tonight, it looks
like that's what's going on. Uh. Coming up next, my
buddy Ben Mallor from Mike, I'm Jason. You are listening
(19:09):
to Fox Sports Radio. Wow wow wow wow wow wow
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