As the most accomplished superstar in NBA history, LeBron James has earned more authority than most of his peers. Still, according to Rich Paul, James does not have as much power over his teams as some might think. In a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, the NBA agent confirmed that his client has limited involvement with key front-office decisions.
“That’s false,” Paul said of the idea that James is the unofficial GM of the Lakers. “I think that — and I can say that because I’m there. And when you think about that and that narrative, people don’t think about the impact that that has off the court, right? It hurts friendships, guys that play on teams, because they feel like, ‘Hey, I may have been traded, and it’s because you wanted me out of here,’ right? “And I know that it’s not to be true. There’s something to be said when someone comes to you and says, ‘Hey, what do you think about this guy?’ You may say, ‘Eh, hm.’ Or you may not even wanna comment at all. And then they come back and you say, ‘You know what? That’s what you wanna do, go ahead.’ That’s not you making a decision. That’s you agreeing with something because, ‘Okay, cool. If that’s what you guys feel is the best thing to do, do it. I don’t own the team. I’m not in the front office.”
There’s no question that LeBron holds a lot of power as a player, but Paul insists that James doesn’t use it to run his teams. Contrary to popular thinking, James isn’t always informed on what the Lakers are doing, despite being accused as the one who pushed them to trade for Russell Westbrook.
“Clearly, he doesn’t run the team because there’s things that transpired that he didn’t even know about,” said Paul. “So how is he running the team? The Westbrook trade, he didn’t make that trade, contrary to what people try to put out there. He did not make that trade, and I know that for a fact.”
It’s no secret that LeBron was close with Russell Westbrook and, to this day, critics still blame him for orchestrating his arrival to the Lakers in 2021. His tenure was a complete disaster for the organization, and it lasted less than two seasons before he was traded out.
Now we know that LeBron has nothing to do with the trade, and the same is true for the Anthony Davis deal. Just like everyone else, LeBron was shocked after hearing the news, and he claims there was no prior warning given.
Going into the summer, LeBron has some big decisions to make about his NBA future. At 40 years old, he’s at an age where retirement is looming, and he’s taking it one season at a time. Besides playing with Bryce, and going for one last championship, LeBron has nothing left to prove and he has no reason to press the Lakers into forcing any kind do trade.
Instead, LeBron’s best bet is to let Rob Pelinka work to find a suitable center or even another star to complete their championship roster. Without enough help and good health, LeBron can take this team to the depths of the West playoffs and finally silence all the doubts that continue to question his worth.
