LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, revealed today that he doesn’t think the Los Angeles Lakers are a championship contender. Upon seeing the quotes, many fans were surprised, given that LA is 17-6 and in second place in the Western Conference. But Danny Green believes that the comments were “calculated.”
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LeBron is usually involved when it comes to front office decisions with the teams that he plays for. In fact, many fans call him “Le-GM” at times for fun. There was so much evidence from his prime years with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers that he requested the front office trade for or sign certain players.
That’s why, in Paul’s recent comments, Green speculates that LeBron and his agent are trying to signal the front office to make a new move and improve the team.
“Y’all are not where you need to be, get another big,” Green said, acting as Paul on No Fouls Given. “You need to make a trade, y’all need to make another move.”
Green played with LeBron on two separate occasions throughout his career. So, he would know better than most about how Paul says things in service of James at times.
“It’s usually in service of him,” Green added. “When superstars say something, they put pressure on the front office to make a move or to do something. So, Rich is in that.”
We see this in many other sports, too. Star players who are unsatisfied with their front office will put pressure on them in ways that are hard for the average fan to notice. But players on the team and hardcore fans of the sport can usually read between the lines.
At the end of the day, though, Green doesn’t think that Paul is wrong in his assessment of the Lakers.
“I don’t think he’s wrong. And I think he believes they need to make a move for them to be contenders.”
Later on, Hall of Famer Paul Pierce chimed in, saying that he does believe the Lakers are contenders. He also believes that Paul and LeBron are basing the team’s assessment on how they compare to the OKC Thunder. But if you took the 23-1 juggernaut out of the league, he thinks they’d be the favorites to win the title.
All in all, it was an interesting discussion on some cryptic comments from LeBron’s agent. Maybe in the coming days or weeks, we’ll see the Lakers respond with a blockbuster trade like they did last season.
