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LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, is downplaying the bombshell report suggesting Los Angeles Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss has grown tired of his client.
ESPN cited team sources when it reported Buss had privately complained about James’ “outsized ego,” and “overt control” the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Paul and the Klutch Sports Group have over the organization.
The report also stated that Buss believed James has lacked accountability since he’s been with the team, which includes deflecting blame after the team’s unsuccessful trade for Russell Westbrook before the 2021-22 season.
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Paul responded during his podcast, “Game Over With Max Kellerman and Rich Paul,” and he downplayed the report.
“There’s an article written every day,” he told Kellerman. “Who gives a s—? I don’t.
“When these types of articles come out, people want to take the clickbait. You’ll see stuff floating around and floating around and floating around. And it’s going back to this is why I created the whole thing about being unbothered.
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“You’ve got to be unbothered by this type of stuff. I am. It’s like, whatever.”
A decision the Lakers made in 2024 that created controversy, though, was their selection of James’ son, Bronny, in the NBA Draft. Despite struggles in his lone year at USC, largely because he was recovering from a cardiac arrest, the Lakers selected James with the 55th overall pick.
The speculation has been that James had an influence on the selection, and ESPN’s reporting seemed to confirm that.
“And when the Lakers drafted James’ son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn’t,” the ESPN report said. “That summer, as she discussed a new contract for James, Jeanie seemed more resigned to the fact that they’d have to do it — almost begrudgingly accepting that they’d take a massive PR hit by not doing so.”
When Jerry Buss died in 2013, the Lakers were passed down to his children, and Jeanie has served as the team’s governor ever since. She has continued to oversee day-to-day operations, and reports sat she will remain the governor for five more years.
The Lakers won 11 of their 17 championships under Buss ownership, with their last in 2020. That is their only title, though, since Jerry Buss died.
James joined the Lakers in free agency in 2018, helping to lead the team to that 2020 title.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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