Former Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss commented on Wednesday's ESPN report about behind-the-scenes drama in the organization.
Buss released a statement to The Athletic on Wednesday, saying that she did not want LeBron James to be involved in the drama.
“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,” Buss said. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”
ESPN's Baxter Holmes claims Buss, who sold her majority stake of the Lakers last summer, was jealous of James' prominent role in the franchise.
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"She didn't like that James was considered a savior for a foundering franchise when he arrived in 2018 and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team's leadership receiving praise for landing him," Holmes said.
Holmes said the relationship between Buss and James worsened in 2021, when the Lakers traded for MVP Russell Westbrook. The trade was a disaster, as the Lakers missed the playoffs that season and fired head coach Frank Vogel.
"The team had made the trade in an effort to appease James, but the acquisition backfired in catastrophic fashion," he said.
Sources told Holmes that Buss considered not giving James a contract extension and proposed the idea of trading James to the Los Angeles Clippers.
"Jeanie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and, later that year, even about trading James, with the LA Clippers floated as a possibility," he said.
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