The Lakers get defensive (just not on the basketball court)

Things are unraveling quickly for ... well, everyone.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Charles I at the Hunt, Anthony van Dyck, 1635

The rumors that Frank Vogel is nearing the end of the line in his time as the L.A. Lakers’ head coach have been flying the past few days as the would-be contender hovers around .500.

To be clear, firing Frank Vogel would be stupid. It’s not his fault the roster has been stripped of much of its defensive talent and that there are not many plus offense or plus defense five-man units available. It’s not his fault Anthony Davis, someone who can erase a lot of problems himself, has been injured. It’s not his fault that in fact Russell Westbrook absolutely does not fit on a team like this.

Firing Vogel doesn’t fix much. But it’s clear that Vogel believes the rumors, because if you think you’re going to be here in April you don’t do this.

Long before Russell Westbrook was benched down the stretch of Wednesday's 111-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel was given assurances that the organization would support him in taking a hard line while coaching the star, sources told ESPN.

Over the past week and a half, Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as they see fit, even if that means pulling him from a game, as Vogel did for the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana, sources told ESPN.

Yes, Vogel benched a cold-as-ice Westbrook for the end of the game (the Lakers lost anyway). Someone on the coaching staff anonymously told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin exactly why Westbrook got benched, too.

Apart from his offensive struggles, Westbrook failed to execute on the defensive end. The final straw, pushing the staff to honor their instinct to bench him, was when Caris LeVert blew by Westbrook on defense for a layup with 7 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.

The coaching staff had repeatedly emphasized the scouting report to take away LeVert's right hand, and Westbrook, guarding LeVert at the top of the key one-on-one, didn't angle himself properly to thwart the drive and allowed LeVert easy access to the paint en route to the hoop.

Yeah, that was a bad defensive moment in a season filled with them. (You can see the play here.) That said, LeVert cooked the entire Lakers team in the fourth quarter en route to 22 points on 8/9 shooting. Westbrook was a problem but not the problem, just as has been the case all season. Other problems have been benched so there’s no problem there. Except those other problems don’t make $40 million and those other problems aren’t stars known specifically for their pride.