LeBron James, Rich Paul To Meet With Los Angeles Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss To ‘Clear Any Air’
LeBron James and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, will meet with Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss to “clear any air,” according to NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
A recent ESPN article stated, in part, that Buss didn’t like that James “was considered a savior for a floundering franchise when he arrived in 2018.”
“But this actually behind the scenes, from what I understand, is having LeBron and Jeanie Buss and Rich Paul actually come together and, you know, sort of clear any air, any scar tissue that exists,” Windhorst said.
James, 41, becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It’s unknown if the NBA legend plans to retire or continue playing next season.
James joined the Lakers in 2018 as an unrestricted free agent. Los Angeles missed the playoffs in Year 1 of the LeBron era.
In the offseason of 2019, the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. Davis, who has the same agent (Paul) as James, requested a trade from the Pelicans during the 2018-19 season and wanted to get traded to the Lakers because he wanted to play with James.
The Lakers and Pelicans discussed a Davis trade during the 2018-19 season, but the two sides didn’t agree to a deal until the offseason.
James and Davis guided the Lakers to the 2020 championship against the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble. It was Los Angeles’ first championship since 2010.
The Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Davis and James both dealt with injuries, preventing Los Angeles from defending its championship.
In the offseason of 2021, the Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards. The trade was a catastrophe, as Los Angeles missed the 2022 playoffs and Westbrook proved to be a poor fit next to James and Davis.
James and Davis reportedly pushed Buss and Rob Pelinka to trade for Westbrook. ESPN reported that Buss feels James hasn’t taken enough accountability for the Westbrook trade being a failure.
Davis was traded to the Dallas Mavericks last season for Luka Dončić, who has replaced James as the Lakers’ franchise player. James has a no-trade clause in his contract. He told reporters on Thursday that he didn’t care about ESPN‘s article about him and Buss.
“Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles. I really don’t,” James said. “I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of s—. Nah, they don’t … they don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day. I don’t care about an article. I don’t care how somebody feel about me.
“If you know me personally and you know what I’m about, these guys know what I’m about, and that’s all that matters. I can care less how somebody feels about me.”
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