The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on signing every possible big-name free agent this offseason. Klay Thompson went on to join the Dallas Mavericks, and DeMar DeRozan is now with the Sacramento Kings. To make matters worse, the Lakers also ended up losing Taurean Prince to the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Los Angeles was once the ideal landing spot for players around the league. So what changed after all these years? Well, rapper Cam’ron breaks down why players are avoiding signing with the Lakers on the latest episode of the Come Talk 2 Me podcast.
“It looks like they (LeBron James and Rich Paul) are running the organization and to some players, that may be a turn-off because if I got to go to management and talk about anything, it may not go in their head. It may be, it don’t matter what you talk to Rob Pelinka about because if LeBron doesn’t okay it, he doesn’t okay it.”
There is a reason why fans often roast LeBron James with the ‘LeGM’ tag. It is solely because he does have power over teams to force their hand for his convenience. Be it a higher-paying contract, trading and signing players or just getting his son drafted by the same team.
Based on that narrative, it seems as if some players may not want to play alongside James in LA. For example, Klay Thompson, a Los Angeles native, went on to sign a deal with the Dallas Mavericks instead.
It was reported that Klay’s father, Mychal Thompson, a two-time NBA champion was not happy with his son’s decision. Yet Klay decided to go along with signing with the Mavericks instead of the Lakers.
Another example is DeMar DeRozan’s signing with the Sacramento Kings. Born and raised in Compton, DeRozan has several ties in LA. Yet, the six-time All-Star preferred signing with the Kings instead.
The ‘LeGM’ narrative surrounding LeBron James has been going on for quite a few years now. But with Bronny finally being drafted to the same team as his father, many analysts are convinced that James will be favoring his son over other players.
This may very well hamper the Lakers’ chances of attracting any big name to their franchise in the coming years. It is also possible that some players who are already on the team’s roster may request a trade if the favoritism gets out of hand.
The Lakers may not seem like a team contending for a title this year but it sure will be interesting to keep an eye on the team and the drama that comes out of LA.
