Once upon a time, all that stood between Frank Vogel and a shot at an NBA title was LeBron James.



To recap, it didn’t work out for Vogel and surely did for LeBron, who took two teams to eight straight Finals, with victories in three consecutive seasons over Vogel’s Indiana Pacers. LeBron has not one, not two, but three championships to show, and he is considered one of the very best to ever play.



Vogel, 45, is now LeBron’s coach in Los Angeles. This is his third job in five years, and last season he didn’t work at all. He has no NBA titles, and the closest he ever got to one he was erased by the player he’ll need most to get him another chance with the Lakers.



Vogel is using the heartache from those near misses against LeBron to shape his attitude now that they’re on the same side, but not how you might expect.



“He definitely still has that star power, but it’s not a situation where I’m like a...