Behind the bright lights and championship banners, the relationship between Jeanie Buss and LeBron James has reportedly deteriorated into something far more complicated than a simple superstar partnership.
According to multiple accounts, the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Lakers has grown increasingly disillusioned with the influence wielded by the four-time NBA champion and his agency, Klutch Sports, signaling a significant shift within one of basketball’s most iconic franchises.
Sources told ESPN that Buss, 64, privately bristled at what she viewed as LeBron‘s “outsized ego,” along with the level of organizational control she believes he and Klutch Sports exerted over basketball decisions.
Central to her frustration was a perception that the superstar lacked accountability, particularly when it came to deflecting responsibility for the failed Russell Westbrook trade ahead of the disastrous 2021-22 season.
James is now in his eighth, and potentially final, season with the Lakers, having joined the team in a franchise-altering move before the 2018-19 campaign.
At the time, his arrival was hailed as a revival for a proud organization that had missed the playoffs five consecutive seasons.
While the team failed to reach the postseason in his first year, the partnership quickly paid off with the franchise’s 18th championship during the 2020 “Bubble” season.
Yet internally, the narrative surrounding LeBron as the sole savior reportedly grated on Buss.
Per ESPN, she believed credit should have gone to the front office for securing his commitment, rather than the prevailing idea that James chose the Lakers and singlehandedly restored their relevance.
Team sources even claimed that LeBron had informed Lakers officials as early as 2017 that he intended to leave Cleveland for Los Angeles in free agency.
The relationship further strained during the 2021-22 season. The blockbuster move to acquire Westbrook, a deal reportedly made to appease James, backfired spectacularly.
The team stumbled to a 33-49 record and missed the playoffs, and according to ESPN, Buss felt the superstar failed to acknowledge his role in pushing for the trade.
A fractured partnership enters its final chapter
Tensions reportedly escalated to the point where Buss even considered trading LeBron during the 2022 season after declining to offer him a contract extension.
Later, she was said to feel slighted again following the franchise’s decision to draft his son, Bronny James, in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Insiders told ESPN that Buss believed LeBron should have shown more gratitude for a move that enabled the first father-son pairing in NBA history.
Ironically, that same dynamic may have forced her hand. ESPN reported that Buss ultimately extended James in the summer of 2024 largely to avoid the public relations fallout of letting him walk.
Now, with LeBron having opted into his $52.6 million contract, speculation continues that this could be his final season in purple and gold.
On the court, James remains productive, averaging 22.5 points per game, even as his historic streak of 21 consecutive All-Star starts has ended.
The Lakers sit fifth in the Western Conference at 26-16, still contenders but navigating uncertainty at the top.
Complicating matters further, ESPN’s report also highlighted ongoing dysfunction within the Buss family amid the franchise’s reported $10 billion sale to billionaire Mark Walter, a backdrop that only amplifies the significance of LeBron‘s looming exit and the end of an era in Los Angeles.
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