LeBron James is 41 years old, has been in the league 23 years, and has earned the right to be in the middle of his “I don’t give a f***” phase of dealing with the drama always swirling around him and the Lakers.
Which is how he reacted to reports that Lakers governor and former majority owner Jeanie Buss had been frustrated by the power he (and his agent Rich Paul) had in the organization and even floated the idea of trading him (Buss pushed back on the report). Here is LeBron’s response, courtesy Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
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“I don’t really care about the reports, to be honest,” James said. “Since I’ve been here, my eighth year here [in L.A.], been in this league 23 years, there’s [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…
“Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles,” James said. “I really don’t. I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of s***. Nah, they don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day. I don’t care about an article. I don’t care how somebody feels about me. If you know me personally and you know what I’m about, [my teammates] know what I’m about, and that’s all that matters. … I can care less how somebody feels about me.”
LeBron can point to the fact that he (and Paul) pushed for Anthony Davis to be traded to the Lakers, and they formed the core of a team that won the title in 2020 — there is a banner hanging at Crypto.com because of him.
This is all in the rearview mirror now. Buss is no longer the team’s owner (although she and her siblings maintain about a 17% ownership stake and she still serves as the team’s governor), and this is widely expected to be LeBron’s final season with the Lakers. There has been friction at all of LeBron’s stops, but there also have been championships at each one. He is in the GOAT conversation with good reason, and a decade from now that’s all people will talk about. Not the drama.
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