LeBron James Has Pointed Response to Reports of Friction With Lakers’ Jeanie Buss

Per ESPN, Buss considered trading James to the Clippers in 2022.

LeBron James has responded to ESPN’s report of friction between him and Lakers governor Jeannie Buss. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Lakers are 26–17 and currently in sixth place in the Western Conference. The transition from LeBron James to Luka Dončić as the face of the franchise and its clear No. 1 option has been relatively smooth on the court. But this is the Lake Show—drama is never far around the corner.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes published an inside look at the Buss family’s recent sale of the franchise to Mark Walter, and how family in-fighting led to the move. Within the story, Holmes revealed some significant friction between franchise governor Jeanie Buss, who maintains control of the franchise amid the ownership transition, and James.

Among the reported bones of contention were the failed Russell Westbrook experiment, for which James pushed, as well as the perception that James wasn’t “grateful” enough for the franchise selecting his son Bronny James in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft. The Westbrook situation was ugly enough that Buss considered trading James to the crosstown rival Clippers, Holmes reported.

In a statement to The Athletic Wednesday, Buss said it was unfair that James had been “pulled into my family drama” and denied that she thought James hadn’t been grateful for the Bronny pick.

After Thursday’s L.A. loss to the Clippers, James took a slightly different tack in his response, saying that he doesn’t care how others feel about him and that his only focus in signing with the Lakers was to restore the franchise to its championship heights.

“I don't really care about the reports, to be honest,” James said, via ESPN. “Since I’ve been here, my eighth year [in Los Angeles], been in this league 23 years, theres [always going to] be another article tomorrow, especially involving me.

“At the end of the day, when I came to this organization, my whole mindset was about restoring excellence. The things that I saw growing up with the Lakers—obviously, I didn't get an opportunity to watch the Showtime [era], but I know the history. Then the early 2000s with Shaq [O'Neal] and Kobe [Bryant], and then what Kobe did and those couple runs with him and Pau [Gasol]. So, my whole mindset was like, how can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization? ... I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16 other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here. That's always been my mindset.”

James added that he thought he had a good relationship with Buss, but acknowledged that he might have been mistaken, while going on to say that he doesn’t “really care about articles.”

“I thought it was good, but, you know, somebody could see it another way,” James said. “It’s always two sides of the coin. ... How I represented this franchise, and what I wanted to do to represent this franchise since when I got here until now, it's been with the utmost respect and honor and dignity. And I would say loyalty. I mean, s---, I played here longer than pretty much any other franchise I played for besides Cleveland.”

LeBron James’s Lakers career, NBA future

James signed with Los Angeles in 2018, as the franchise was coming off of five consecutive losing seasons and playoff misses. The Lakers immediately improved with James in 2018–19, but missed the postseason once more as he was held to 55 games due to injury. They’d rebound in 2019–20, after the offseason acquisition of Anthony Davis, and win the 2020 NBA Finals, which were conducted in the league’s Orlando bubble during COVID-19.

It has been a grind for L.A. to attempt to return to those heights in the years since. The Lakers have made the playoffs in four of the five years since and are in line to do so again in 2025–26, their first full season since Davis was traded to the Mavericks for Dončić. It looks very likely that this will also be the final run for James with the Lakers. At 41, he may retire after the season, or could head elsewhere as a free agent this summer, after opting into the final year of his L.A. deal last offseason, rather than signing a longer extension.

NBA insider Jake Fischer is already reporting that the Warriors are toying with the idea of pairing James with Steph Curry as the two superstars near the ends of their careers.

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