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NBA ALL-STAR 2020February 16, 2020Frank VogelChicago, Illinois - Team LeBron Postgame Team LeBron 157 - Team Giannis 155 Q. Could you take us into the final quarter. We saw a very competitive game, which is something that we haven't seen in the All-Star Game for a long time. What changed this year? FRANK VOGEL: I think the format probably had something to do with it, but I do think that, while a lot of the All-Star games have not been competitive, usually when it's close down the stretch, it becomes very competitive. I think with the format the way it was, first team to get to that 157 mark, I think it just became more competitive a little bit longer. But it's not uncommon for All-Star games to get competitive down the stretch when they're close. Q. Frank, obviously, you had the charity element, you had the fans right there near your bench kind of chanting for LeBron and Giannis. How did that affect sort of the energy on the court from what your typical experience at the All-Star Game is? FRANK VOGEL: Obviously, when there's money involved going to the charity that was representing Team LeBron, I think our guys just poured a little bit more effort and spirit into that part of it, wanting to win it for our charity. Then having them close like that on the court, it contributes to the atmosphere and the energy of the building and of our team. It was a fun part of the game. Q. With all the global success of the NBA, I mean, this year we've been 400 or more foreign journalists, do you think with the launching of the African league, the NBA African league, don't you think NBA should also organize an NBA All-Star in Africa? And would you be interested in taking part in such an event? FRANK VOGEL: Well, it's a great idea. I don't know if it's been discussed or not with our League Office. I'm sure it has. They think of everything. If that were to take place, it would be great for the global nature of our game, and I would be first in line to sign up for something like that. That would be pretty awesome. Q. Frank, how much interaction did you have with Coach Nurse this weekend? And what's your greatest impression of him overall? FRANK VOGEL: The interaction was minimal. I saw him on the elevator when I checked in, the first time I saw him. Our wives and kids hung out a little bit in the hospitality suite at the hotel. Saw him a little bit pregame tonight. My overall impression of him is he's a champion in his first year as head coach of the Toronto Raptors, so much, much respect. Q. What's it like to coach a game when you have five stars on the court at all times? FRANK VOGEL: It's what people like to call good problems. Who are you going to give the ball to? They're all good. They're all right answers, you know what I mean? It was great for me to see the collective competitive spirit of our group working together, usual competitors, fierce competitors against each other. That's what's always been great to me about the All-Star Weekend, the All-Star Game is seeing guys that normally want to kill each other working together and then combining that competitive spirit and strength into one force. I think you saw that with the veteran group we had out there on the floor in the fourth quarter. Q. How many of the L.A. plays did you bring to this All-Star Game, if at all? FRANK VOGEL: We ran a handful of -- we only ran probably five plays the whole game. It was more like freelance and letting the guys feel the action out on the floor. We definitely ran the first play of the game was one of our plays, and the Giannis duck-in -- not Giannis, the Joker duck-in in front of the rim was one of our plays. Russell got to the bucket on one of ours. Most of it was pretty freelance. We try to do some of the ATO stuff for each individual player. James' ATO play is everybody stands still and let him go play iso basketball, and he scores every single time. So we ran that as well. Q. Frank, I know it's all in fun, but like you said, you ran one of your plays and Kawhi scored the first basket. Was it kind of fun to sort of realize that vision of coaching Kawhi alongside LeBron and A.D. for you? FRANK VOGEL: I didn't really go there mentally, to be honest. It was an All-Star Game. It's an exhibition. I had fun with that aspect of it, but I love my Lakers team. Q. Coach, what was your impression of Chris Paul tonight and just the confidence of having a veteran point guard like that leading down the stretch? FRANK VOGEL: Well, Chris Paul is a big reason for the win. He told me early in the day that he wasn't one of those vets that just likes to take a rest in a game like this, that he wants to come in and win a game and help our guys win a game. All the young guys throughout the course of the game, every time they made a mistake or didn't play defense, he was yelling at them. So he got us -- not only got us to the finish line but also provided great leadership and some big plays in that fourth quarter down the stretch. Q. With the All-Star Game being in Chicago, how cool was it to see the hometown kid, A.D., the game-winning free-throw from the charity stripe for charity? FRANK VOGEL: Well, you said it best, right? You can't draw that stuff up. Sort of a Hollywood ending to this weekend's festivities. The local kid wins the game and wins it for charity. I was happy for him. I knew it was going to be a special kind of weekend for him coming home, and to see him win a game like that was pretty special. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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