Fansided

Lakers Power Structure: Amid chaos, dysfunction, who runs Showtime?

By Josh Hill and Jason Cole

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 5: The Los Angeles Lakers huddle up prior to the game against the Indiana Pacers on February 5, 2019 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 5: The Los Angeles Lakers huddle up prior to the game against the Indiana Pacers on February 5, 2019 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 10: Head coach Jason Kidd of the Milwaukee Bucks stands on the court in the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at BMO Harris Bradley Center on April 10, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Jason Kidd, Assistant Head Coach (for now)

If LeBron is Tyrion, then Jason Kidd is his Varys.

Vogel is a very fine head coach. He may have one more good run in him if he lands with the right team. The Lakers are not that team and this is not that last good run. His biggest flaw? He’s not Jason Kidd.

Like Ty Lue, Kidd commands some level of respect from LeBron because he’s a former player. Still, that is only “some level,” which is far from “complete.” Kidd was a point guard, a distributor who knew how to involve other people. Despite his recent failings to bring people together, LeBron has always fancied himself as a great unifier of teams.

Kidd has shown adequate chops as a head coach so far between his stops with Brooklyn and Milwaukee. Again, adequate is not necessarily enough, especially in Los Angeles, where coaches such as Luke Walton, Mike Brown, Byron Scott and Paul Westhead have been eaten alive.

What makes the pairing of Vogel and Kidd so incredibly strange is that they know almost nothing about each other, even in the relatively small community that comprises the NBA. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have some connection of some kind to somebody else. You almost have to try to not know someone in the NBA because of all the crossover. Yet Vogel made it clear in his press conference that he had never spoken to Kidd prior to their forced marriage.

Yeah, this is going to work out. Vogel is never going to feel like someone is after his job after the team has lost maybe four out of five and LeBron is having a casual conversation with Kidd one day after practice.

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