Frank Vogel says he’s had ‘positive’ communications with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who have expressed ‘mutual respect’ for him

With over three months until the start of the regular season, there’s a ton of optimism surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers and their chances of winning an NBA title as soon as next season. If there was any reason to be pessimistic, though, it would have to start with head coach Frank Vogel.

It’s not that Vogel is a bad coach. In fact, on paper he was one of the most qualified head coaches on the market, with a career 51.1 percent winning percentage. However, his hire came on the heels of a failed pursuit of Tyronn Lue, who coached LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to a title in 2017 and, as a result, was reportedly James’ preferred candidate.

Instead, the Lakers hired Vogel and now there are questions as to whether or not James and Vogel will get along in their first season together. To a lesser extent, there are also concerns about how Anthony Davis will respond to Vogel, his third coach since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2012.

One could make the case that these are valid concerns, but during an interview with ESPN during the Lakers’ summer league game against the Knicks earlier this month, Vogel said that he feels he has the respect of both James and Davis:

“It became very clear that I was going to have the support of my best player in LeBron once I took the job, and since Anthony has come aboard it’s the same way. We’re very aligned in the vision of how we’re going to play and what we’re going to be, and what we’re going to get accomplished on the basketball court. There’s a mutual respect there, and I can’t wait to get started.”

If you think about it, James and Davis don’t really have a reason to be unhappy with Vogel right now. I mean, they haven’t even had their first practice yet.

Once the season does get rolling, though, it’s going to be interesting to watch how things develop between James, Davis and Vogel. If the Lakers get off to a hot start, the noise surrounding Vogel and James’ relationship might be minimal.

If they don’t, though, expect Jason Kidd’s name to enter the rumor mill by the All-Star break.

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