Lakers governor Jeanie Buss harbored resentment toward LeBron James and considered trading him at one point, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes claims in a lengthy examination of the state of the franchise while it was under control of the Buss siblings.
Sources tell Holmes that Buss privately complained about James’ “outsized ego” and the influence that he and Klutch Sports exercised over the organization after he arrived in 2018. She also resented the idea that James was celebrated for joining the Lakers in free agency, rather than team leaders being praised for signing him. According to Holmes, team sources have said for years that James’ camp informed Lakers brass in 2017 that he was planning to come to L.A. when his contract expired.
Buss was particularly upset about the fallout from the ill-fated Russell Westbrook trade in the summer of 2021, Holmes adds. The Lakers added the former MVP to appease James, but he was mostly able to escape responsibility for the deal after it went bad. L.A. missed the playoffs during Westbrook’s lone full season with the team, and he was pulled from the starting lineup and then traded the following year.
In 2022, Buss considered not negotiating an extension with James or even trading him, with the Clippers mentioned as a possibility, according to Holmes’ sources. He eventually received a two-year, $104MM contract in July 2024 that included a no-trade clause. Buss also believes James didn’t display enough gratitude for the team’s decision to take his son, Bronny James, with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Holmes adds.
Buss issued a statement to The Athletic in response to the claims made by Holmes, relays Sam Amick (Twitter link). “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,” it reads. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”
Holmes touches on many more subjects in the in-depth piece, including:
- Joey Buss and Jesse Buss tried to convince their siblings to sell just a portion of the family’s 66% controlling interest in the team. They presented the plan to the Lakers’ chief financial officer and chief legal counsel as a way to provide cash for the older siblings while maintaining control of the franchise. However, they learned at meetings last summer about Jeanie’s intention to sell most of the family’s stake to Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation. The family retains 17% ownership, just above the 15% required to allow Jeanie to remain in her role as governor for the next five years.
- Sources tell Holmes that Jeanie made the decision to sell because she wasn’t convinced that the family could continue to keep the Lakers competitive in a league where an increasing number of teams are owned by billionaires. Joey and Jesse reportedly disagreed with that logic because of restrictions in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that place limitations on the amount that teams can spend.
- Holmes states that several members of Jeanie’s inner circle received large bonuses as a result of the sale, including former player Kurt Rambis and his wife Linda Rambis. A person with knowledge of the agreement told Holmes that Linda received $24MM and Kurt got $8MM, amounts that were chosen based on Kobe Bryant’s uniform numbers.
- Joey and Jesse were told that “new ownership” was responsible for their dismissal from front office roles in November, but sources tell Holmes they discovered that Jeanie made the decision. “Dr. (Jerry) Buss’ idea was for Joey and I to run basketball operations one day,” Jesse said. “But Jeanie has effectively kept herself in place with her siblings fired.”
The Buss family after Jerry was an utter embarrassment. “Public trust” B.S. Glad to be rid of them and the Rambi, and bye – bye LeBron.
They would love to trade him today! They cannot wait, are literally licking their chops, for the day when they can use LeBron’s money on someone like Anthony Edwards, Giannis, or maybe even Jokic. LeBron is just an obstacle at this point to the great laker teams about to come. In a perfect world, from their perspective, he’d retire this year…. Or rather last year.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Billionaires don’t like when their toys are taken away from them. Regardless if for nearly a decade the toy was a tire fire and the guy that took control delivered a championship within 2 years. They still don’t like it.
Anyone that believes any of this is an idiot. Let’s see….LBJ CHOOSE the Lakers, not the other way around. He was the first and only true star they were able to secure via free agency since Shaq. Many top FA shunned both the Lakers and Knicks. He took the team from 4 years in the lottery to the finals in only his 2nd season. LA had the best record in the West the championship year. He convinced AD to join the team. While LBJ was the face of the franchise, the team’s valuation tripled to the eventual $10 billion they sold for. Think about it. If Jeannie was so fed up with LBJ and Klutch then why not let him walk in FA once his contract was up? Not only did they NOT let him walk but they gave him an extension WITH a no trade clause giving him even more power to decide his fate. Why would they do that for a player they despised so much? “They” say he should be more grateful for wasting a 55th overall pick for Bronny who sold $50 million in jersey sales (Google it) but more likely, they said to him “thanks” for being the star we lacked, bringing a chip back to LA, restoring relevance to the organization and helping us increase the valuation to $10 billion. If yall can’t see that then I dont know what to say. But yall go ahead and take the words off her bitter family members who obviously feel a bit left out. Crazy that the Rambis’ received more than some of the family members.
And what honor and esteem did the Lakers have the 4 years prior to LBJ joining when they were losing 50 games a season?
LOL RICH PEOPLE PROBLEMS