LeBron James‘ time with the Los Angeles Lakers might be coming to an end in 2026. James is hitting free agency this summer and could well decide to head out of town.
While James hasn’t spoken about the future holds for him, an interesting article came out last week. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that the 41-year-old felt the Lakers had taken him for granted after a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 31.
Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka had given head coach JJ Redick the game ball that night for reaching 100 wins instead of handing it over to James, who had passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most wins in NBA history (regular season and playoffs combined). This story split opinion, with Fox Sports analyst Aaron Torres one of those taking issue with the 22-time All-Star.
“This guy is so narcissistic, so ego-driven, but here is the worst part,” Torres said. “We know that it is not about a game ball. We know that after a season that does not result in a championship, it is never LeBron’s fault. It is always everybody else’s fault… And in this case, blame Rob Pelinka. It’s all Rob Pelinka’s fault, even though, by the way, Rob Pelinka traded for Luka Doncic in his prime.
“Yes, I still think that was a little sketchy, but neither here nor there,” Torres stated. “Rob Pelinka pulled it off. He drafted your son. He has done everything you wanted. He traded everything for Anthony Davis, drafted your son because you wanted it, traded for Luka. That, admittedly, was for the benefit of the franchise. But I bring it up.
“Let me put it this way,” Torres continued. “I don’t think any athlete has ever been less unappreciated than LeBron James, and this is the part that drives me crazy. It’s not just the headline, it’s the story behind the story, which is that this guy, 41 years old, 23 years in the NBA, is still trying to get anyone fired… He throws temper tantrums. How many GMs? How many head coaches? Nobody’s ever good enough.
“Ty Lue wins him a championship, he’s mad at him,” Torres added. “Erik Spoelstra, it’s easy to forget. He tried to get him fired early on. You go on and on down the list. It’s like, listen, is Rob Pelinka perfect? No. But part of the reason that Rob Pelinka couldn’t build a better team around you is because, again, you opted into a deal that paid you $50-plus million a year.”
Torres made it clear he isn’t saying James should have taken pay cuts. He just believes that his not taking pay cuts is why Pelinka hasn’t been able to build better teams.
Now, to be fair, James was willing to take a $16 million pay cut in 2024 if the Lakers were able to bring in some impact players. They weren’t able to, so he didn’t.
Also, when you’re operating at an All-NBA level, which James was even last season, why should you take significant pay cuts? We don’t ask any other superstar to do so.
As for Torres’ earlier points, he was on the money when he brought up the Lakers drafting Bronny James with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. They primarily did that just to make James happy. He also wanted the Lakers to trade for Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, and they got both of them in. Davis proved to be a hit while Westbrook was a disaster.
Have the Lakers done everything James has wanted them to do? Most probably not. Have they done a lot? It sure seems like it.
It is only really after trading for Luka Doncic that James’ wishes were no longer a priority for the Lakers. Doncic became the new crown jewel, and the franchise revolves around him now. If James isn’t a fan of that, he can just go elsewhere.
