The situation in the Los Angeles Lakers seems to be rapidly getting harder to decipher with conflicting reports from various sources about the relationship between LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. After Westbrook fired his agent and had an alleged phone call with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a trusted Lakers insider has thrown another wrench into the situation.
Lakers insider Dave McMenamin appeared on Zach Lowe’s podcast and gave a lot of insight into the Lakers situation right now and has revealed that LeBron James does not want to be teammates with Russell Westbrook anymore.
After McMenamin revealed details on LeBron and Russ not interacting at Summer League, he delved much deeper into the mindset of the two players in terms of having a relationship as teammates next season.
"It's pretty darn clear that Lebron's seen enough and he has no interest in going another year with Russ as his teammate." – Dave McMenamin on The Lowe Post yesterday pic.twitter.com/ZwVikKuXKM
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(@OVOLakeShow) July 20, 2022
“LeBron is eligible for an extension and (what if) he’s not signing? Let’s say he goes through the year that way and add another circus to your plate for the entirety of the 22-23 season. That’s something, in my opinion, that should be leverage on LeBron and Klutch’s side to say. ‘let’s get this figured out. I’ll commit for a 1+1 deal and let’s clean up the end of the ride we have together. Let’s not forget that this franchise was wandering the desert for a drink of water for years before I came here from Cleveland, delivered a championship, something that validated the professional livelihoods of the Buss family to say we did it without our father around. Let’s turn thing around. In order to do that, help me help you. I need another running mate that would work with me.’
“Pretty small sample size with Russ last season, but it’s pretty darn clear that LeBron has seen enough and he has no interest going into another year with Russ as his teammate.”
The Lakers are having a tough offseason but the relationship between Russell Westbrook and LeBron James is probably the most important one for them to reconcile.
The best solution would be a trade, even if it doesn’t bring back Kyrie Irving. The Lakers are looking to explore trade options for Buddy Hield and Eric Gordon as well, so the Lakers do not need to hold out for Irving to be available considering he may sign with them as a free agent.
The Westbrook saga in LA has droned on this summer and it is becoming hard to envision a situation in which Westbrook happily comes back to play for the team. A harder situation to envision is LeBron happily accepting Russ for another season.
