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Skip Bayless took a dig at LA Lakers coach Frank Vogel for promoting LeBron James as the MVP this year. James is averaging a league-high 30 points per game, but due to the Lakers' dismal campaign, he doesn't have a strong case to be in the MVP conversation.
Vogel still vouched for his star player during a recent press conference, saying:
"LeBron is as deserving for MVP voting as anybody in the league. You can't tell me that anybody has played a better season than LeBron James.”
James' remarkable performances have been the lone bright spot for the Lakers this year. No one expected the four-time champion to be this good in year 19 of his career, but he has once again proved his critics wrong.
Bayless was left unimpressed by Vogel campaigning for LeBron as this year's MVP, though, and he took to Twitter to accuse the Lakers coach of "saving his job." Here's what the Fox Sports broadcaster tweeted:
"Vogel, (laughably) campaigning for LeBron for MVP, is obviously just campaigning to keep his job, hoping LeBron decides to keep him."
Frank Vogel has been in the hot seat this season. The LA Lakers haven't performed as per their expectations, and the 2020 championship-winning coach could be on his way out of Hollywood should the Lakers struggle in the postseason.
Can Frank Vogel and LeBron James work something out to lead LA Lakers to a surprise run in the playoffs?
The LA Lakers aren't guaranteed a spot in the play-in tournament, let alone the playoffs this year. They are ninth in the Western Conference standings, though, so the odds favor them to at least make the play-in tournament. The Lakers, 31-42 for the season, haven't had a memorable year.
However, there is some optimism for them to turn things around in the postseason. Their veteran roster is suited for playoff-type basketball. They have a proven combination of Frank Vogel, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who led the team to a championship just 18 months ago.
The Lakers will end up as the eighth seed if they manage to win the play-in tournament. They will then proceed to face the league's best record-holders, the Phoenix Suns. It will be an uphill task for Vogel's men to cause an upset, but if LeBron James and Anthony Davis are 100% healthy, LA can be difficult to contain, even for a team as lethal as Phoenix.
It's still too early to predict how the LA Lakers will fare moving forward, though, especially in the postseason, and at the moment, it's looking unlikely that they will achieve an extraordinary result in the playoffs, should they qualify.
Guess the Lakers players!
