Two days ago, a story broke on ESPN about the $10 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers that was finalized in October. The piece had many interesting behind-the-scenes details on the dynamics of the Buss family as they gave up the controlling interest in the team to Dodgers owner Mark Walter, some willingly, some not.
Advertisement
Not everything in the article focused on sibling relations. One section focused on LeBron James and the way he was viewed by Jeanie Buss. Those two have always seemed to have a positive relationship, but in this article, there are several examples of things not being quite as good as they seem.
That includes Jeanie allegedly grumbling about LeBron’s ingratitude for the team drafting his son Bronny, his ego and the control that he and Klutch Sports had over the franchise. She also allegedly took issue with the way he didn’t take accountability for the decision to acquire Russell Westbrook, a move that really backfired.
According to the article, Jeanie even wanted to trade LeBron to the Clippers at one point. So perhaps it was fitting that last night, the Lakers played their first game since that article was published, and it was against their crosstown rivals. The purple and gold fought back from a 17-point halftime deficit to make it interesting, but ultimately came up just short in their comeback attempt.
After the game, LeBron was asked about the article, and to his credit, he did everything possible to make it seem like it wasn’t a distraction. “I thought it was good, but, you know, somebody could see it another way,” he said of his relationship with Jeanie.
“I thought it was good, but somebody could see it another way” – LeBron James when asked how his partnership has gone with the Lakers in the eight years he’s been with the franchise pic.twitter.com/MNcbTP4ekM
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 23, 2026
LeBron brought up the fact that his eight-year stint with the Lakers is already longer than he stayed with any of his previous teams (his 11 years with the Cavs were broken into seven- and four-year periods). In that time, he said he’s represented the franchise “with the utmost respect and honor and dignity. And I would say loyalty.”
He also said that he hasn’t spoken to Jeanie since the story came out, but that in itself isn’t unusual. On the surface at least, he seemed to be unbothered about it, since he’s had stories written about him for most of his life.
“Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles,” he said. “I really don’t. I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of s***. Nah, they don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day.”
For her part, Jeanie also put out a statement that said, “It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama. To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”
LeBron has a no-trade clause in his contract, and with the trade deadline coming up in less than two weeks, it’s fair to wonder whether this story might open the possibility that he’d want to go elsewhere. When asked about the possibility of waiving the no-trade clause, LeBron repeated, “I’m good.”
That could mean a few different things, so although he’s doing his best to appear unbothered, it’s possible he feels differently behind the scenes. The Lakers shocked everyone at last year’s trade deadline by acquiring Luka Doncic, and we have no choice now but to keep an eye on them this time, too.
