#Frank Vogel ‘perfect’ fit for star-powered Lakers

If you forgot, the Lakers’ head coach is Frank Vogel — even if TV cameras almost never show him on the sidelines.

By coaching LeBron James and Anthony Davis, with Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo among the supporting cast, a coach’s identity can be overlooked despite being two wins away from the NBA title.

Coaching legend Rick Pitino, Vogel’s top mentor and current head coach at Iona, thinks his former Kentucky student manager and graduate assistant is the perfect match for the Lake Show.

“It’s a player’s league, and he’s with two of the top five players,’’ Pitino told The Post. “Frank is the perfect coach for those two guys and the team. He’s going to do all his work behind the scenes, get them ready, never be on camera, never get any credit.

“And he wants it that way. His perfect scenario is them winning a championship, never mention his name and get ready for next season.”

The Lakers are ahead 2-0 over the Heat with Game 3 set for Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Before the series, Vogel said he consulted with Pitino on scoring against the Miami zone, which had bottled up Boston in teh Eastern Conference finals. So far, so great.

“When the Celtics were having their most success late in the series, they offensive rebounded, got into the middle and had paint touches,’’ the former Knicks coach said. “We talked the four elements beating the zone. Their length in the middle and dribble penetration has hurt them. They’re doing a great job against it.’’

James and Davis became the first Lakers tandem to notch 30-plus points apiece in the same Finals game since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2002. Davis’ 66 points in two games ranks third-best for a player’s first two Finals contests.

If there’s a recipe to allow two superstars like James and Davis to be their best selves, Vogel, a South Jersey product, has it. Vogel’s Lakers posted a 52-19 record, tops in the Western Conference. And nobody has been able to challenge them during the four playoff rounds.

“We had lunch when he first got the job in [2019],’’ Pitino said. “He loved LeBron. I watched LeBron at his early practice. LeBron was like having another assistant coach on the floor.… Frank loved LeBron in film sessions and practice, said it’s like having another coach. He was all in with him, said it’s great for a team having his basketball acumen off the charts.

“He’s perfect for LeBron,’’ Pitino added. “He’ll go up at a press conference and never say a negative word about his players. In the NBA, you don’t knock a player in a press conference. Frank is perfect for that with LeBron and AD.”

James, in turn, said Friday he has been a Vogel fan since the coach’s Pacers days.

“Going against Frank’s teams in Indiana, when we had our battles and I was in Miami, you understood how well those teams were coached,’’ James said. “It starts with the head coach, and the players are an extension. So I had that memory, battling those Indiana teams. For me, I’ve always been a coachable player throughout my whole life. I’ve played for multiple coaches, and I’ve always been a coachable player. Most importantly, he’s the head coach. The head coach should have the respect from all his players.’’

If that sounded like a subtle dig at his former teammate Kyrie Irving for making remarks the Nets don’t really have a head coach, it also showed genuine respect for Vogel.

James has said in the past he prefers coaches who’ve played in the NBA, but Vogel played for Division III Juniata College before transferring to Kentucky. Vogel contacted Pitino — just wanting to be his student manager.

“He wrote a long letter about following me from Five-Star Camp and he’d like to learn everything we do,’’ Pitino said. “He’s from New Jersey and wanted to come to Kentucky. I wrote him I think he’d be better off going to Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s. The student body at Kentucky is 95 percent Kentucky. He wrote back: That doesn’t matter, he’s just interested in basketball.’’

Jeff Van Gundy and Billy Donovan are his other two of Pitino’s graduate assistants (both of them at Providence) who made it big.

“They all had same thing in common — same attributes,’’ Pitino said. “ They were selfless, no egos and it was about the work. Did I know any would turn out the way they’d be — maybe Billy because he was a great player. But with Van Gundy and Vogel, their work ethic was something to marvel. I was getting in at 6:30 a.m. and they always there ahead of me, always there when I left. You don’t see that much anymore. Frank never came in and said, ‘I was there for 12 hours.’ He’d just get the job done.’’