Being the best player on a team comes with a lot of advantages. Even more so when a player has been the face of the league for well over a decade. Yes, we are talking about none other than the Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
LBJ will soon be entering the 20th season of his career and is yet to show any significant signs of slowing down. He proved in the 2021-22 NBA season that he is still a fabulous player and can play basketball at an elite level for the foreseeable future.
Evidently, it means that he has a lot of say in which players the Lakers keep or trade away. So much so that it has been reported that James has more power in the Lakers organization than Kobe Bryant ever had. The claim was put to the test last season when the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook.
It was reported several times that James played a huge role in pushing the Lakers to acquire Westbrook. But one year down the line, the Lakers’ experiment with a potential Big 3 featuring LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook failed.
Obviously, the Lakers are now struggling to trade Russ away due to his poor season and his gigantic contract. As a result, many are blaming LeBron for his decision to push the Purple and Gold to trade for Westbrook.
Surely these claims are reaching LeBron’s ears regardless of the fact that he addresses them or not. NBA analyst Brian Windhorst recently pointed out this fact and tried to tell the audience what might be going on inside the 4x NBA champion’s mind.
Brian Windhorst on if he was LeBron James, what he would be thinking right now video courtesy of the @dpshow: pic.twitter.com/4b1EnnZo0W
— The Lakers Review (@TheLakersReview) July 13, 2022
Windhorst explained that James might be concerned about the fact that if the Lakers fail to find a trade for Westbrook and a repeat of last season happens, most will put the blame on his shoulders.
Obviously, no player wants that as it would certainly have a negative impact on their reputation. Windhorst also explained that LeBron has an interesting trick up his sleeve.
LeBron is currently in the last year of his contract and is yet to sign an extension with the team. Windhorst believes he is waiting to see what the Lakers will do in the offseason and will make his decision after that.
Interestingly, NBA insider Marc Stein said something along similar lines that James won’t sign an extension if the Lakers fail to land Kyrie Irving. So the future of LeBron James in a Laker uniform could very well be decided in the coming weeks.
