In his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Frank Vogel helped to lead the team to a 52-19 record.
That was good enough for the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed in the Lakers first playoff appearance since 2013. What’s even more impressive is all that the Lakers — and most of the league — went through to reach the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
The Lakers’ unprecedented season began with the NBA’s controversy with China happening while they were in China for preseason games. They then had to face the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and seven others in a helicopter crash in January.