LeBron James reiterated his desire to finish out his career with the Lakers and said he doesn’t “push the buttons” when it comes to personnel decisions, as he told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and other media members after the team’s loss to the Clippers on Friday night.
James is under contract for one more season and will be eligible to sign a two-year extension this summer.
“This is a franchise I see myself being with. I’m here. I’m here,” James said. “I see myself being with the Purple and Gold as long as I can play.”
James raised a lot of eyebrows with his comments during All-Star weekend that he wouldn’t close the door on a possible return to Cleveland. He also stirred the pot by heaping praise on Thunder general manager Sam Presti for his ability to identify talent.
James also expressed his desire in an interview with The Athletic to eventually play with his 17-year-old son, Bronny. However, James said Friday he hopes that will occur in L.A.
“I also have a goal that, if it’s possible — I don’t even know if it’s possible — that if I can play with my son, I would love to do that,” he said. “Is that, like, something that any man shouldn’t want that in life? That’s like the coolest thing that could possibly happen. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with this franchise.”
Bronny would not be eligible to play in the NBA until the 2024/25 season.
In terms of his relationship with the front office, James said his comments about Presti were not a potshot toward GM Rob Pelinka.
“If I comment [on] or compliment the GM that’s in OKC — I really believe he’s done a phenomenal job. And you guys spin that to me saying that Rob is not doing a great job,” James said.
Super-agent Rich Paul, whose agency represents James and Anthony Davis, met with Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss on Tuesday in what could be characterized as a clear-the-air session.
Pelinka consults his superstars regarding potential moves, including the Russell Westbrook trade with Washington that contributed significantly to the Lakers’ poor season. There were also reports James and Davis were unhappy the front office stood pat at the trade deadline.
James says he doesn’t have final say on trades.
“I don’t push the buttons,” James said. “They ask for my opinion, and I voice my opinion and what I believe. But I don’t press any buttons. That’s what our front office is for, and that’s what our leadership group is for.”
He also feels the influence that he and his representative have within the franchise sparks jealousy.
“I mean, I think a lot of people are, to be honest, just jealous of the relationship that Rich has with the front office and with this team and with the relationship that I have, that I’ve grown over the last four years. I mean, that’s what I think it boils down to,” he said.
Sure Bron! Sure!
This is just a face-saving move to stop all the blowback he was getting. For once, his power move backfired.
So what teams say right before they fire someone?!? Lol
“He doesn’t push the buttons when it comes to personnel decisions.” Ok, sure he doesn’t.
Does anyone actually believe that garbage he just said? Lakers suck, he’s partly/mostly to blame and he’s trying to pass the buck now.
Lol man y’all are the worst
No, Bronbron is the worst and I hope he ends up in LeChina playing with his precious Bronnybronny. He can tell us all about his experience touring shoe factories on LeTwitter.
Damn Lloyd, can you be more bitter?
What happens if his Son isn’t good enough to make the NBA? Think LeBron goes with him to play for CSK Moscow or the D League? He could very easily end up being like the middle Ball brother.
lol you guys been rooting for Bron to fail for almost 2 decades & now you’ve moved on to his kids. Hating is truly a lifelong affair for y’all huh
Nothing says little Bron will be a NBA player. He will need to earn his spot on a team and going against the best players in the world. That is a very tough goal since there is not many open spots. Problem is if he is not good enough for NBA and need time in the G league would a GM take the chance with a angry LeBron?
I was asking a serious question. From a basketball perspective LeBron is 1B with Jordan. From a pure athlete perspective nobody is even close to LeBron. He could have been an all world NFL player on athleticism alone.
I also think it would be amazing for someone to play professionally with their child. But that also puts a lot of pressure on the son to perform at a level very few are able to make (ie play at an NBA level.) if his son doesn’t make it, then what?
LeBron will buy into a NBA team and sign for minimum and sign little Bron and put them both in the starting lineup. I will feel sorry for the fans of that team.
Bronny is living with immense pressure to make it to the NBA no doubt. There are untold millions that desperately hope he doesn’t make it & like you said it’s extremely tough to make it. The kid is very talented tho & is trending in the direction of being an eventual NBA player with how he’s been doing this season & just his overall skill set/improvement in general. More important to me is just how much people are invested in seeing this be a failure tho. It’s yet another indictment on our society that the Bronny/NBA conversation is 90/10 in favor of what if he fails as opposed to what if he actually makes it
Yeh MJ’s kids were under same pressure. Fortunately their dad had the sense not to add to it by fueling speculation about him playing in the NBA alongside them.
@Sankara That’s not hate. He’s proposing a hypothetical. Stop with the emotional reasoning.
I think if lebrons team has a 2nd round pick they will take Bronny regardless of talent
I also think it’s funny lebron has to clarify everything he says because he makes thoughtless, controversial comments on a regular basis.
like why not clarify the comments when they are made ?
maybe it’s all part of a plan, or maybe this guy is just a bone head when given a mic.
The only teams I can see him going to when he becomes a FA os of LA: Miami, GSW, CHI, BRKLN and CLE
Time for Lebron to stfu and just do what he’s paid for and play basketball. He’s no longer the top player in the league so people shouldn’t hang on every word he says. By the time his son can play in the nba (24-25 season) Lebron will be 40 years old and possibly a negative player like Westbrook
It’s AS week, when things are supposed to be looser, and in Cleveland besides.
So much for that in this climate.
Dude, reporters or talk show hosts ask him questions. He answers.
LeBron market value = 1 protected First
LeBron = Love + salary filler+ Cavs own First
Interesting thought, elegant trade to let them each finish in their home.
Kevin Love is from Oregon
That’s not his market value. Bunch of junk.
Trade him now …….
Love, Sexton, two #1 picks…. At draft
Take back your team. Move AD too if he don’t like it. Players play that’s it….
BYE ……
@Knick
Cavs aren’t trading for LBJ. If he joins them it’ll be as a FA unless they do a sign and trade to appease the Lakers. Either way, I think Sexton stays.
We all know that is BS. Lebron will go to whatever team will get him another championship. He has no loyalty to any club. Ask cavs about that.
Why should he have loyalty to these companies that don’t have any loyalty to him. Why should any player have loyalty to any team? Is it that hard to see how idiotic it is to ask someone to love a company that doesn’t give af about you. Also why are you personally inherently on the side of a business as opposed to taking the side of your fellow human. LeBron James doesn’t care about you but I promise he has more love for you than a conglomeration of businesses called the NBA or any NBA franchise… Also you got it backwards (a trend for you), LeBron (& his teammates) is the one that gets the championship for the franchise, not the other way around.
Where did I say he should be loyal? I didn’t. You seem triggered on any comment that doesn’t praise LeBron like a god. You then go all out and attack people for not praising LeBorn. That is called control issues. Most of these comments are not attacking LeBron but saying he will probably leave. You attitude is 100% wrong. You need to find a LeBron praise site and stay there because you can’t take the truth.
You literally just said it in your last comment
No I didn’t. I said he has never been loyal to one club.
And I said why should he be. What is this, an instant replay? He obviously has zero reason to be loyal to any team. No NBA player should be loyal to any of these teams unless it benefits them first and foremost. You were clearly criticizing him for a perceived lack of loyalty & I pointed out why that was a stupid position to take. Just take the L.. Also THIS should be a LeBron praise site. This is a site full of basketball fans if I’m not mistaken. LeBron James is the best basketball player any of us have ever seen in our life, at worst he’s top3. Is it that ridiculous that there be more praise than hate for the guy who is better at this thing that we all love than anyone else?
Thanks for fighting the good fight Sankara !
I don’t have the stomach for it anymore, this place turns into a madhouse anytime LBJ gets mentioned . Lots of anger in America today, doesn’t take much to bring it out
It’s amazing when people get all aggro about the things he says. I don’t care…even a little bit…about anything any of these guys say. I don’t watch hoops to try and find a life coach.
@arc
Haha… you just said the same thing.
Many players look at team prospects when changing teams. But arc89 did not seem neutral about it, like it is LJ’s fault. Any player recruits and tries to influence personnel changes too. All this one guy’s fault???
I disagreed with you above yet to this comment, I say “preach on.”
Cavs must feel so horrible LeBron brought them their 1st title ever after being the worst team in basketball for the 4 years he was gone
@arc89
So he didn’t show loyalty by coming BACK to Cleveland and IMMEDIATELY turning them from a 33 win team to a 53 win team that went to Finals in all 4 years including winning the teams first chip and the first for the city in 50+ years? That’s not loyalty? He could’ve easily have gone to a dozen other teams yet he came back to Cleveland.
And, oh yeah, the team was valued around $500 mil the year before he returned. It almost doubled his first year back to $915 mil. The next year when they won it all, $1.1 billion and is holding steady at just under $1.3 billion. It perplexes me to hear people act like he ruined or left teams in shambles after taking…. the Heat and Cavs to 4 finals each and winning 3 chips. He then took a Laker team mired in poop from 35 wins and 11th place finish to a 52 win 1st place team that won its first title in 10 years. All great teams have had bloated salaries and useless players once their star departs. It happens to the best. But it SHOULD be about winning chips not who has the most picks and salary cap flexibility. Boston’s Danny Ainge had tons of picks but no playoff success. The Knicks had tons of salary cap space but couldn’t draw more than Stoudamire and Randle to the squad. Winning is the point!!!
He waited until they rebuild and did the same thing he did in LA trade away the young players for vets so he can get a championship immediately. Trading the 1st pick in the draft for a all star. Now LA is going through the same thing showing aged players breaking down. So he will take off again. Actually his first year in LA they were bad and only won in a covid year. They had a losing record his first year in LA. What I do find funny is if anyone questions Lebron or don’t praise him like a cult leader you guys attack them. I think people are fooling themselves thinking he will not jump ship next year to go to a team with a better chance of winning a title. LA will not be a top team for a while so he is gone.
@arc
im not a LBJ fanboy so stop it. ppl can disagree with you. He didn’t WAIT until they were rebuilding. You really think he wouldn’t have been able to join better teams like KD did when he went to GSW. Miami was his choice because he wanted to join Wade and Bosh. Her returned to Cleveland to bring a chip to the city. He went to LA because that’s where his son was playing, brought him closer to the entertainment industry and maybe he just wanted to join a prestigious franchise but he enhanced those teams without a doubt. And stop with this whole covid/bubble year. They played under the same conditions as everyone else. there weren’t any inherit advantages they held other the others.
If Lil Bron can’t play in the NBA until ’24, that makes Papa Bron..40..?
I’m not sure even if I view LB as a bona-fide nba player I’m going to hitch my wagon to him and a social security check-cashing Papa Bron.
It’s a great story for the James’s but as an owner, GM or coach what’s the motivation?
LeBron puts butts in the seats and sells merch.
Honestly the whole LeBron leaving LA thing is just the press and people blowing things out of proportion. He was asked a question and he answered it. Lebron’s always going to have a spot in his heart for Cleveland and it would be asinine in many ways for him to say no he wouldn’t consider playing there again. This is just a case of the press and fans making a big story when there wasn’t one.
@Tacocat
To me, that’s the most amazing thing and it truly shows how the media can create a narrative. He was being interviewed IN CLEVELAND DURING THE ALL-STAR GAME and was asked MANY questions.
“The door’s not closed on that,” James told The Athletic on Saturday when asked about a potential return to Cleveland. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”
He didn’t commit to anything!!! I guess he COULD’VE said “no comment” but im surrrrre that would’ve been spun in some other way that would cause commotion. I mean the guy is sitting in front of cameras IN CLEVELAND with the media and he simply said he basically wouldn’t have a problem with considering it, meaning, no beef, no reason to sit there and say “no” he wouldn’t come back.
I really don’t know what other answer would’ve been more correct than that. They took his simple answer and created unnecessary drama.
@arc
Im not going full scale on the race issue but clearly there’s a difference between Rodgers being knocked for coming up short in the playoffs versus LBJ for moving from one team to another and leaving them with at least 1 championship. He wins, wins, wins and increases the revenue for the owners. But you want to talk loyalty? He’s doing more for them not the other way around. People speak of him being able to recruit top players like it’s a bad thing.
@Jimmy
What’s this immaturity you speak ok? I think he’s handled himself quite well as there haven’t bekm any off the field issues.
I believe LBJ is extension eligible this off season, although I’m not certain.
If he is, it will all get flushed out then. He either extends through 2024-25, allowing the Lakers to rationally put their remaining resources into competing for the title the next 3 years; or he doesn’t, which means the Lakers (whether they trade him or not) almost have to put future assets (including future cap space) off limits, and begin constructing the post-LeBron era team. It’s not worth depleting any more future assets just to give LeBron a marginally better shot at a another ring on his way out the door.
@DXC
Please keep in mind it’s not just about getting LBJ another ring. The Lakers aren’t doing anything JUST for the legacy of LBJ. He helped the Lakers tie the Celtics for most chips by an nba team and ANYTHING they do going fwd is as much about the team winning #18 than it is about LBJ winning his 5th. It’s called a partnership with vested interests.
Of course, any team wants any championship they can get, AND for their own reasons. The LAL decision is still do they invest future assets (again) for the balance of LeBron’s stay, and the answer to that differs (or easily could) if that stay is 1 more year or 3 more years. Probably a long shot to win the title in any of those years, but 3 chances vs 1 makes it a more rational decision.
@dxc
ok…too often ive heard people speak as if teams were doing LBJ a favor when it’s obviously a marriage of two coming together to accomplish a goal.
I’d obv love for LBJ to stay but there’s a lot of losing he’s going to have to get accustom to the next 100 games
Dudes like LBJ Kobe Jordan they don’t take kindly to losing (as they shouldn’t) . The offseason is a better time to gauge the temp, these statements just feel like throwing water on previous statements
LBJ owes the Lakers nothing, if he gives us clear communication on his direction in an orderly fashion that’s all we can ask for at this point
LJ not being likable or educated does not explain the much greater abuse he gets compared to Brady. The difference is race. Not many care about those other things anyway.
People who do not care about BB show up in forums to blame LJ for all manner of power-wielding.
Too true, too true, my friend!
Anyone who loves hoops, loves The King, no doubt about it, there is no way around, the dude is just unbelievably good, one of the top 4 players ever!
The best. He can legitimately play all five positions.
Sorry, I misplaced this post, then the thread got modded. Still true though lol
WHY? The teams onwership and front office are broken. Kurt Rambis interferes in coaching decisions. Linda Rambis is the owners closest advisor instead of say Jerry West.
The coach is about to be fired in the off-season and the roster sucks.
Why stay here?