When the Los Angeles Lakers refused to offer LeBron James a contract extension in the 2025 offseason, many questions began to arise surrounding his future with the team. Surprisingly, James’ name was even floating around in trade talks. The majority of people didn’t pay much attention to those outlandish claims. Following a recent ESPN story, it turns out that outcome wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
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As pretty as the Lakers organization appears on the outside, they have dealt with extreme turmoil behind closed doors. The Buss family has been at the helm of team operations since 1979. In recent years, Jeanie Buss has been the one to carry out her father’s legacy, in which she has done a pretty good job.
Jeanie was a part of the group that convinced LeBron James to join the Lakers. As a result, the acquisition changed the trajectory of the franchise for the better. Although the NBA’s all-time leading scorer even delivered a championship to the Lakers in 2020, it appears his relationship with Jeanie has deteriorated quite drastically.
Ever since LeBron joined the team, he has had a relatively loud voice. His presence was essential in the team landing Anthony Davis. A move that every member of the organization would say was a win. However, with wins come losses, and the Russell Westbrook experiment was one of those.
Ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Lakers traded for Westbrook to pair alongside James and Davis. Los Angeles believed they put together a dominant Big Three, which will be a formidable foe in the Western Conference. That was far from the case as the Lakers would go on to miss the postseason entirely.
The Westbrook experiment was objectively a failure. Nonetheless, the ownership’s feelings have remained private information up until now. ESPN journalist Baxter Holmes revealed exactly how Jeanie felt, specifically toward LeBron, following the Westbrook debacle.
“In 2022, in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade, multiple people said Jeanie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and, later that year, even about trading James, with the LA Clippers floated as a possibility,” Holmes said.
A potential LeBron James trade to the Los Angeles Clippers would’ve broken the internet. Jeanie fought those temptations and decided to keep James on the team. Those temptations would begin to boil once more in 2024. Clearly, she didn’t act on those feelings. Her reasoning was quite simple.
“This was before James received a no-trade clause in July 2024 after signing a new two-year, $104 million contract,” Holmes said.
Further, Jeanie believed picking Bronny as the 55th pick in the 2024 Draft was a gesture LeBron should’ve been grateful for, but she felt he wasn’t. On top of that, the contract extension in 2024 wasn’t optional for Jeanie and the Lakers, as they felt they’d take a massive PR hit if they didn’t.
Once LeBron received that no-trade clause, his future was in his hands. Regardless of whatever feelings Jeanie had, she couldn’t do anything without LeBron’s approval to leave. As a result, he has remained safe on the roster despite constant speculation that the team is willing to move on from the four-time NBA champion.
Will these reports anger LeBron? There is no telling for sure how he will feel. James has carried himself as the utmost professional. However, with a player option coming up this offseason, we will find out based on his decision whether his souring relationship with Jeanie played a part in his potential departure.
