LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 02: Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss enjoys the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on October 2, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)LeBron James is a businessman. Every move of his is calculated. Everyone knows this. That’s why his comments during All-Star Weekend raised so many eyebrows.
The Lakers are a disaster worth unfolding, but it’s complicated. The bottom line is LeBron wants control. He was given that control when the Lakers orchestrated a trade for Russell Westbrook last summer. But then that control was taken away when the Lakers refused to trade Westbrook for Klutch Sports client John Wall ahead of the deadline. LeBron reportedly wanted the trade to happen, but Rob Pelinka and Lakers’ higher-ups refused.
That led to what transpired during All-Star Weekend. LeBron, a man of theatrics, made several eyebrow-raising comments about his future. He honestly acted like he was already a free agent exploring his options. And yet, LeBron isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He’s on contract through next season. The antics aren’t sitting well with the Lakers’ front office.
Per Bill Simmons, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly “stood up” to LeBron in a recent sit-down meeting after All-Star weekend.
“Jeanie Buss is a tough lady, man. … She’s been in the league since the early eighties and I think at some point she stood up to those guys and was like, ‘No, stop. You don’t get to undermine all this. Stop,” Simmons explained, as transcribed by Clutch Points.
“You’re here. You’re under contract next year. What are we doing?’ and I think they had a powwow, that’s what I heard. But I think she stood up for at least something. For them to unwind last week and pretend they weren’t chaos agents was really strange.”
Simmons on the last week in Laker Land pic.twitter.com/KfFXjOPaOR
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) March 1, 2022
The Lakers have given LeBron James as much power as a high-up executive would have. But that power was clearly relenquished when LeBron made a few horrible roster decisions ahead of the 2021-22 season. Buss wasn’t going to let it slide any longer.
So what happens next out in Lakers land? They’re headed in the wrong direction and might miss the playoffs altogether if they can’t get things figured out. To be frank, it might be a lost cause at this point.
Jeanie Buss has a mess to clean up this coming offseason. And it starts with her relationship with LeBron James and the power struggle between the organization and Klutch Sports.
