Jeanie Buss takes back criticism of LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers the governor Jeanie Buss addressed her comments about LeBron James from an ESPN story on Wednesday, walking back her unflattering remarks about James’ tenure. Team sources revealed troubled times between Buss and James dating back to his arrival in 2018.

Buss now says ESPN is crooked the narrative surrounding her relationship with James, which the Lakers greatly appreciate, she said, per Sam Amico of The Athletic.

“It’s really not right, with all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be dragged into my family drama,” Jeannie Bass said. “To say it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”

While Buss was reportedly thrilled to sign a free agent of LeBron’s caliber to save the Lakers’ struggling franchise in 2018, the move was understood to be James choosing Los Angeles, not the other way around, which never sat well with Buss, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

“Ginny grumbled privately, people close to the team say, about what she felt was James’ outsized ego and the overt control he and Clutch Sports, which represents both James and Anthony Davis, exercised over the organization at times,” Holmes wrote.

“She didn’t like that James was seen as the savior of a struggling franchise when he arrived in 2018, and that he chose the Lakers, rather than the team’s leadership getting praise for landing him. Team sources have been adamant for years that James’ camp informed the Lakers as early as 2017 that he was a free agent after he became a free agent.

The relationship between Buss and James only worsened when the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook, according to ESPN.

Jeannie Bass Considered Trading LeBron James in 2022

Lakers governor Jeanie Buss defied her father’s wishes in sales franchise for 10 billion dollars. As Buss’ inner circle began to dwindle, shedding high-ranking officials from the Lakers’ front office, she didn’t hesitate to make tough decisions about the Lakers’ future.

Buss also didn’t appreciate the impact the Lakers’ LeBron James and his representation have seen in the organization, according to ESPN.

“Team sources say Ginny has privately railed against LeBron James’ excessive influence in the organization, even considered trading him in 2022 and believed James wasn’t grateful enough to the team that drafted his son Brony in 2024,” Holmes wrote. “Jeanie was privately angry at what she felt was his lack of accountability and the way James would shift the blame to others after the Westbrook trade, the people said.”

“In 2022, after the Westbrook trade, multiple people said that Ginny was privately considering not giving James a contract extension, and later that year, even trading James to the LA Clippers was raised as a possibility.”

The Lakers reportedly considered trading James before his no-trade clause went into effect in 2024.