Former Teammate Bashes LeBron James and the Lakers for Not Defending Their Coach: “Being the Scapegoat Is Ridiculous”

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a complicated spot midway through the season. Their problems seem to keep growing as they can’t get on to any rhythm of their own. The blame for their failures has now fallen onto the coach, Frank Vogel. Meanwhile, a former teammate of LeBron James is not happy with the King for not defending his coach.

Kendrick Perkins came on to First Take and spoke about Vogel not being the reason the Lakers are in such a position. Moreover, he also wants LeBron or Anthony Davis to come out and defend their coach.

The Lake show are not the top team in the NBA. However, at the beginning of the season, expectations were very high. The Lakers looked solid on paper. But when they took to the court, the purple and gold looked like a disoriented group. Likewise, being the coach of the team, the blame is all on Vogel.

Kendrick Perkins wants LeBron James to defend Frank Vogel

On a recent episode of First Take, the Lakers came up as the point of discussion. This is when Perkins came to the support of Vogel. He spoke about how the Lakers coach is not the person to blame in this scenario, as he couldn’t predict certain things. Moreover. he also wants LeBron and AD to publically come to his defense.

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He said: “Frank Vogel being the scapegoat is ridiculous. And I feel like a guy with whom you just won a championship with as your head coach two years ago, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, y’all got to come to this mans defense. Perkins continued, “It is not Frank Vogel’s fault that Russell Westbrook is not getting up on the screens. It’s not Frank Vogel’s when Melo is healthy, he is on the floor and he is giving up 30 points on the defensive end….”

Perkins sure holds a right stand on his part. While the team does depend on their coach, the players also have to deliver on their end. When it comes to Russell Westbrook, he was coming off a season putting up a 22 point triple double. Hence, Vogel expects him to perform at that level. However, the 33-YO has failed to find his place in this system. On the other hand, the problem with team’s high average age was known from the get go.

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Their defensive worries are not his fault. With the majority of the roster on the older side, and injuries coming to play, the Lakers have suffered. Despite the King being on his best, they have failed to win. Coming out to Vogel’s defense would help his place a lot. However, both the players and the coach need to work out a system that works best for this Lakers team.

Do you think the Lakers can pull off a comeback in the second half of the season? let us know in the comments below.