It wouldn’t be the NBA without some off the court drama, and the latest juicy story involves LeBron James and the legendary Buss family from the Lakers. A report recently surfaced claiming that Jeanie Buss, who inherited the franchise from her father Dr. Buss, took shots at The King due to his “oversized” ego. She also apparently wanted to trade the future Hall of Famer at some point to send a message.
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However, like most stories that are not backed up by exact quotes or fact, some liberties were taken. Jeanie has since come out with a statement about how this was LeBron getting pulled into the inner-workings of some Buss family drama, and even mentioned how it wasn’t right considering was James had done for the Lakers since he arrived in 2018.
“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,” Jeanie said. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.” Well, this story has become big enough that ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith addressed it on the latest edition of his Youtube program. Surprisingly enough, he was full ‘team LeBron’.
“The Los Angeles Lakers were pretty freaking irrelevant until LeBron James arrived. LeBron James arrived in Los Angeles in 2018 and absolutely returned them to relevancy,” stated SAS. And he’s not wrong. LBJ donning a Purple and Gold uniform was the most exciting thing to happen to the franchise since Kobe’s final 61-point performance. His superstar power elevated the famed franchise back to its historic roots.
“The fact is that it’s entirely plausible that Jeanie Buss may have felt that LeBron James should have been more appreciative. It is the Lakers after all, and that brand means something. It wasn’t like he was playing for the Clippers now,” added Smith, who continued to insult the Clippers as a Mickey Mouse organization in comparison.
More than that, James brought a ring to LA, which is exactly what he promised to do. However, it happened in the infamous 2020 season in the bubble due to worldwide pandemic. But Smith doesn’t care about what the haters say. “He still came there, and he delivered. And everybody wants to sit up there and minimize that championship in the Bubble. You can’t. It was a real REAL different kind of situation during COVID no doubt about it.”
The truth is, this whole thing feels like noise more than substance. LeBron’s Lakers tenure is already backed up by the receipts. A championship, constant national relevance, sold-out arenas, and a franchise that jumped back to the center of the NBA universe the moment he showed up.
Family drama and anonymous reports come and go, but the legacy stuff is already locked in. Whatever tension may exist behind the scenes, history is going to remember LeBron as the superstar who stabilized the Lakers post Kobe and dragged them back into contention. Everything else is just offseason chatter filling airtime.
The real question is why would a story like this surface now? Is it another James smear campaign just when The King seems to be getting his game back after missing the beginning of the season with Sciatica? No one will know. But LBJ will continue to do the same thing he’s done his entire career. Block out the noise and make history. Jeanie knows that. So if there is bad blood between herself and James, it is still soaked in respect.
