According to Donnie Druin of Sports Illustrated on Friday, the Phoenix Suns have named Frank Vogel of Wildwood Crest, New Jersey as their new head coach. The Suns are the fourth franchise in the National Basketball Association he has coached. Vogel was previously the bench boss of the Indiana Pacers (2010 to 2016), the Orlando Magic (2016 to 2018), and the Los Angeles Lakers (2019 to 2022).
In 820 games, Vogel has a record of 431 wins and 389 losses for a winning percentage of .526. His most successful season was coaching the Lakers in 2019-20. That season Los Angeles had a regular season record of 52 wins and 19 losses with a winning percentage of .732. In the Orlando bubble, the Lakers also won the 2020 NBA Finals as they beat the Miami Heat in six games.
Vogel has a history of working with star players. While with the Lakers, he coached the LeBron James of Akron, Ohio (NBA’s all-time leader in points), power forward Anthony Davis of Chicago, Illinois, point guard Russell Westbrook of Long Beach, California (NBA’s all-time leader in triple doubles), and the recently retired Carmelo Anthony of Brooklyn, New York (ninth all-time in NBA scoring). While with the Pacers, Vogel coached eight-time All-Star Paul George of Palmdale, California. Now Vogel will be working with shooting guard Devin Booker of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and power forward Kevin Durant of Washington, D.C.
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It should be pointed out that Vogel has been very creative in the past. For example while coaching the Lakers, he used James at point guard and center, when he had been a forward for most of his career. The experiment worked as James was the MVP of the NBA Finals.
Vogel takes over from former Suns head coach Monty Williams. Earlier this week Williams became the head coach of the Detroit Pistons.
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