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Game 1 — NBA Finals: The Saga of Frank Vogel
Back in 2013, Lakers’ coach Frank Vogel’s Indiana Pacers gave LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the Eric Spoelstra led Miami Heat hell for seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat won the series 4–3 and went on to win the 2013 NBA Championship but not before the Pacers fought them for every rebound, basket, and play in that series. Vogel, who was famously blamed in that series for the Pacers falling short, was humble afterwards; yet refreshing.
“And we represent all the right things — class, character, hard work, old-school basketball,” he said at the time of his team, “playing the game the right way. We represented our franchise, our city and our state extremely, extremely well, and we have a lot to be proud of.”
This year, Spoelstra and Vogel meet again and the tables have turned. Vogel now has the star studded lineup. He has LeBron James and Anthony Davis; Spoelstra has the workhorse team with the ultimate lunchpail baller, Jimmy Butler. It is Spolestra who most agree will have to overcome talent with hard work and efficiency.
Of all the stories in the Finals, this one is not talked about much. Vogel wants this bad. He did a great job in his years in Indiana and he also began like Spoelstra, as a video coordinator in the NBA (for the Boston Celtics). Vogel is now well positioned to take that next step…
