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Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless took a dig at Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder and LeBron James through his latest tweet. The Jazz went down 1-2 in their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks following a 118-126 loss in Game 3. The Mavs played without Luka Doncic for the third straight match, making this an even more disappointing playoff run for Utah so far.
Snyder has been linked with a move to the LA Lakers this offseason following the firing of Frank Vogel. Bayless took a swipe at the Jazz coach for not being able to achieve postseason success with his current team. He used that to question LeBron James about whether he would still want Snyder to coach the Lakers next season, despite his poor record.
Bayless also suggested that LeBron James may use Snyder as a "scapegoat" if he ends up signing with the Lakers. Here's what the 70-year-old analyst tweeted:
"Utah blows another game to Luca-less Dallas, this one at Utah. Hey, Bron, do you really want the coach who failed in Utah to be your coach??? Oh, that's right, the "GOAT" always needs a scapegoat. Quin Vogel."
Bayless linked former LA Lakers coach Frank Vogel's tenure with the franchise to his current tweet. Vogel led LeBron James and Co. to their 17th title in October 2020 but they failed miserably in the next two seasons.
He received a lot of flak during the 2021-22 NBA campaign from several fans and analysts for not being able to get the best out of the star-studded squad at his disposal.
Vogel was shown the door right after the Lakers' regular-season finale against the Denver Nuggets. The move upset rival coaches and players alike, which led to the notion that Vogel had been made a 'scapegoat' for the way things went down in Hollywood this season.
What's next for LeBron James and the LA Lakers?
The LeBron James-led LA Lakers underwent arguably the most disappointing season in the franchise's history. The 17-time NBA champions failed to even make the play-in tournament, despite bolstering one of the most star-studded rosters, featuring James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, among others.
They were expected to fight for a top-four position in the standings before the preseason and be one of the title contenders. But that was far from what they were able to achieve. Changes are imminent, and the Lakers haven't wasted much time by announcing the firing of Frank Vogel after their final regular-season game.
The LA Lakers need to build a well-balanced roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis to return to the top. They went for the experience last offseason and ended up forming the oldest team in the league. That led to them having one of the worst defensive units, which hurt them the most during the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign.
The Lakers have three contracts to move, which could help them make significant changes to their roster. That includes Russell Westbrook's $47 million player option, which he is likely to opt in for, Talen Horton-Tucker's $10 million and Kendrick Nunn's $5.2 million contract.
The likelihood of these three players leaving the franchise remains high, so it will be interesting to see how Rob Pelinka uses their contracts to find the best possible roster combination for the LA Lakers next season.
