Lakers’ LeBron James Receives Controversial Praise from Frank Vogel

Getty LeBron James and Frank Vogel.

The Los Angeles Lakers are 31-42 on the season. They are in 10th place in the Western Conference standings despite LeBron James putting up staggering numbers in his 19th campaign.

A four-time MVP, LeBron won’t be in the MVP conversation this season since his team has a losing record. However, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel believes the King should be in the MVP race.

“He is as deserving for MVP consideration as anybody in the league,” Vogel said after practice on March 25. “I know how the voting goes. The team with the best record or top couple of records usually gets most of those considerations. So the win-loss record definitely would probably hurt him, but you can’t tell me that anybody has played a better season than LeBron James has this year.”

LeBron leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 30.0 points while shooting 52.3% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc. The four-time Finals MVP is also putting up 8.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.

However, since the Lakers have been so putrid this season with LeBron in the lineup, fans aren’t happy with Vogel’s comments.

Vogel’s LeBron’s Comments Made Fans Upset

Ryan Ward of LakersNation tweeted out Vogel’s LeBron’s comments and his mentions turned ugly quickly.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Caesars Sportsbook lists LeBron as a +30,000 longshot to win the MVP award, putting him just outside the top 10. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (-160), Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic (+135) and Milwaukee Bucks swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo (+900) make up the top three.

Even though LeBron is putting up sensational numbers, his stellar play hasn’t helped the Lakers rack up a winning record. The purple and gold are 25-29 when LBJ plays this season.

LeBron missed the Lakers’ game on March 23 against the Sixers because of soreness in his left knee. The future Hall of Famer did not participate in practice on March 25, but Vogel is “hopeful” his best player returns to the lineup on March 27 for a key road matchup versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

New Orleans is currently No. 9 in the West and would host Los Angeles in a play-in tournament game if the regular season ended today.

Vogel: ‘There’s Been Some Really Encouraging Signs with How We’ve Played’

The Lakers are 3-7 over their last 10 games. However, Vogel has seen some “encouraging signs” lately from his group.

“The bigger motivator for us down the stretch for us for the final nine games is how are we playing?” Vogel said. “Are we playing winning basketball? And are we improving our habits well enough to win? Whether it’s the play-in game or if we’re able to get through the play-in games to win in the first round. The habits are the biggest motivator and there’s been some really encouraging signs with how we’ve played.”

The Lakers will need LeBron and Russell Westbrook to play well to defeat the Pelicans, who beat the LakeShow by 28 points on February 27 at Crypto.com Arena. LeBron and Westbrook combined for 14 turnovers in that contest and the Lakers were booed by the home crowd.