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The Lakers are one of the most successful franchises in NBA history. The Lakers were founded in 1947 and have won 17 championships since then. During these years, the Lakers have featured 28 head coaches with six of them winning NBA championships.
Let's look at the complete list of Lakers head coaches:
The most successful Lakers coaches in terms of championships have been Phil Jackson (5), John Kundla (5), Pat Riley (4), Bill Sharman (1), Paul Westhead (1), and Frank Vogel (1).
Lakers and NBA legendary coach Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson is one of the greatest NBA head coaches who won a remarkable 11 NBA championships in his coaching career; five of these were with the Lakers. Phil Jackson boasts a stunning .705 win percentage which is the highest ever amongst all NBA coaches. Jackson's win rate in the playoffs was also high at 68.8%. Additionally, he was also part of a stunning three three-peat teams.
Under Phil Jackson, stars like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal flourished, contributing to Jackson's record-setting championship haul. Jackson had the ability to remain calm under pressure which coined him the nickname "Zen Master". His legendary coaching style has made him an enduring memory of the Lakers' dynasty years.
Is Frank Vogel a legendary Lakers coach?
Frank Vogel became the head coach in 2019 and guided the LeBron James and Anthony Davis led team to an NBA Championship in the 2020 bubble year. Vogel is primarily known for his defensive gameplay. Under his coaching, the team's defense improved significantly as they become one of the highest-rated defenses across the league.
Frank Vogel was also able to manage egos and make effective play calls in key moments of the game. Ultimately, he is one of the only six coaches to have won a championship for the Lakers.
However, Frank Vogel was later fired from the head coaching position. This is because the Lakers struggled a lot with Russell Westbrook on the roster and Vogel was unable to manage the situation. The situation was so bad that it cost LeBron James to miss the playoffs, the first time this had happened ever since James' rookie year.
A majority of the blame for this situation fell on Vogel who couldn't find a way to integrate Westbrook into his defensive gameplans and wasn't able to make lineup decisions during the clutch moments of the game.
Frank Vogel's term with the Lakers was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. While he led the team to win an NBA championship, he also led a LeBron James team to miss the playoffs entirely. That said, the jury is still out on whether on not Frank Vogel deserves a legendary coach status given that he brought a championship to the most successful NBA franchise. We will leave this to the fans to decide.
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