There is no doubt that LeBron James is nearing the end of his career—he will be 40 years old at the end of this month. However, there is still an entire season to be played, and his agent, Rich Paul, made it very clear that his client still wants to compete for championships.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Rich Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”
The concerning part is that Paul believes the Lakers are not currently a true contender in the Western Conference.
“I don’t think they have enough to get to WCF… their style of play will be very easy to defend when you get into playoffs,” Paul said to Kellerman on the Game Over podcast.
Not only did Paul say that about the Lakers, but he also compared the organization to the Miami Heat. James played under Pat Riley in Miami and Rob Pelinka in Los Angeles. However, Paul believes Pelinka still has room to grow and suggested he tries too hard to be a player-pleaser.
“LeBron was always a pro regardless of what Miami was, sometimes that gets misconstrued. But going back to mindset, Pat Riley’s mindset, Pat had a championship mindset. So the foundation was it don’t matter if you’re upset, we’re doing things this way… if there was room to grow for the Lakers, it would be in that department,” Paul told Kellerman.
To call out the organization James currently plays for suggests Paul believes changes need to be made—possibly changes that affect James’ future with the team.
The timing of these comments is interesting. Calling out an organization led by one of the greatest players of all time, while that player is still on the roster, raises questions. If tension begins to surface between James and the Lakers, these comments could very well be a major reason why.