Lakers fire Vogel
Head coach led them to 17th title
Frank Vogel masterminded the 17th championship in the Los Angeles Lakers' remarkable history in his first season on their bench.
Exactly 18 months after that triumph, he also became part of the Lakers' past.
The Lakers fired Vogel on Monday, choosing their title-winning coach to take the first fall for one of the most disappointing seasons in NBA history.
Los Angeles finished 3349 and missed the 10-team Western Conference playoffs this season. It was a humiliating underachievement for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and a veteranladen supporting cast widely expected to contend for another championship.
Vogel was under contract through next season, but almost nothing has gone right over the past two seasons for the rosters assembled by general manager Rob Pelinka and coached by Vogel, who went 127-98 in his three seasons running the club.
Pelinka declined to elaborate Monday on why he and owner Jeanie Buss felt Vogel needed to be fired.
“Today is not going to be a day of finger-pointing and unwinding all the specific reasons,” Pelinka said. “We just felt organizationally, at the highest level, it was time for a new voice . ... That's not to say anything against the incredible accomplishments that Frank Vogel has had. He was a great coach here, and he's going to go on to be a great coach somewhere else.”
ESPN reported Vogel's imminent firing immediately after the Lakers finished the season by beating Denver in overtime Sunday night. During an awkward postgame news conference, Vogel admitted he had not yet been told of the club's decision before it was leaked to ESPN.
Kings fire interim coach Gentry
The Sacramento Kings fired interim coach Alvin Gentry on Monday, a day after the franchise missed the playoffs for a 16th straight season.
The 67-year-old Gentry was promoted from associate head coach to interim coach when the Kings fired Luke Walton in November following a 6-11 start. Sacramento won 116-109 at NBAleading Phoenix on Sunday to finish at 30-52.
George, Clippers take on Timberwolves
For all the strides the Minnesota Timberwolves made this season on both ends of the floor, proving themselves as a team on the rise with plenty of untapped potential, their entry into the NBA playoffs has still yet to be secured.
Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers present a significant roadblock.
“He takes them to a whole other level,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
The confident team that reached the Western Conference finals last year — and beat the Wolves three times in November when George was healthy — has the seven-time All-Star back in the lineup after a threemonth absence with an elbow injury.
The Clippers visit the Wolves on Tuesday night in a play-in game for the No. 7 seed and a first-round date with Memphis. The loser must turn around and beat the San Antonio-New Orleans winner to get the No. 8 seed and a matchup with league-leading Phoenix, or else begin their offseason with the rest of the lotterybound teams.
Cavaliers face Nets
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have played in the NBA Finals and Olympics, so they've been in just about every kind of big game there is.
The play-in tournament is something new for them, and the Brooklyn Nets certainly didn't expect to experience it this year.
The Cleveland Cavaliers weren't sure they would, either, after losing 50 games last season. Now one of the teams will extend its season into the playoffs by winning the opener of the tournament tonight in Brooklyn.
“Let's get it on,” Irving said.