LeBron James is the main man for the Lakers, despite his advancing age. Many had hoped Anthony Davis would step up following their championship, but with LBJ showing no signs of slowing down, he remains the biggest superstar on the team. And as such, his word holds a lot of weight on the team’s decisions, something that showed last season when they pursued and traded for Russell Westbrook.
The acquisition didn’t quite work out as the team might have hoped, though. The Lakers struggled, and Westbrook suffered quite the decline in his first season with the Purple and Gold. And with that being the case, there were suggestions that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were pushing to have Westbrook traded away in favor of Kyrie Irving.
The Kyrie move didn’t pan out, though, and the Lakers were stuck with some other trade options. Despite seriously considering it, they decided not to deal the former MVP to the Pacers. And apparently, some of that decision had to do with the King himself, who has backed Westbrook to have a big year.
LeBron James Wants To Integrate Russell Westbrook Into The Team For Next Season
After much consideration, it was revealed that General Manager Rob Pelinka was the person to decide to give Russ another shot. And in the same report from The Athletic that revealed this, it was also shared that LeBron James has not applied any pressure on the franchise to move on from Russell Westbrook by trading him.
In addition, James has shown support publicly and privately to integrating Westbrook and playing with the former league MVP again this season, and multiple sources said he applied no pressure to the Lakers front office to do the Pacers’ deal.
“Seven months have passed since James’ tweet supporting the “f— them picks” approach of Rams GM Les Snead led some to wonder how he saw the Lakers’ strategy, and sources say he remains supportive of the current regime. And while Pelinka made it clear on media day that he’s willing to trade precious picks in the right deal, that time has yet to arrive.”
The influence LeBron James exerts over the franchise is massive, so his willingness to make it work with Russ has to have been a big factor in keeping the point guard. Westbrook is by no means a poor player, so there is every chance that he gets it together and has a big season. However, if he doesn’t, some questions will be asked of LeBron just as they were when he pushed for the team to acquire Russ initially.
