“I own the team, this is your mess" - Colin Cowherd speculates an ongoing tiff between LeBron James and Jeanie Buss regarding LA Lakers' roster construction

Team owner Jeanie Buss and LA Lakers franchise player LeBron James share a hug during the team's 2020 championship celebration [Photo: OpenCourt Basketball]

LeBron James and the LA Lakers grabbed NBA headlines following their disastrous 95-123 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. It wasn't the defeat but the way the team went down that sent alarm bells ringing in Lakerland. They practically quit in front of a near sell-out Crypto.com Arena crowd.

The most blatant problem that the LA Lakers have not been able to solve is their roster construction. It was an issue that everyone saw coming from a mile away, but it was still something the Lakers went ahead with due to LeBron James’ reported insistence.

With the LA Lakers almost out of options for a desperate move to retool the roster, the team expectedly had a boring mid-season trade deadline.

However, Colin Cowherd, on his latest podcast, stated that the quiet trade deadline belied the intense events happening behind the scenes. The veteran sports anchor said:

“He’s unhappy, his guy’s Klutch, they want to move at the All-Star Break and Jeanie Buss is like ‘Hey, I moved off Shaq. We wanted Buddy Hield. It was a done deal. You wanted Westbrook. I own the team, this is your mess, get it done. And they [Lakers] leaked some stuff to let it be known to people like me and guys like me, a conduit to the public… ‘I’m not moving. LeBron, this was your mess.’”

The LA Lakers, behind GM Rob Pelinka, reportedly tried to salvage the season by dangling Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn to potential trade partners. However, the front office was unwilling to offload a future draft pick into the equation, which all but rendered any exchange moot.

Russell Westbrook, who is the obvious misfit in the Lakers’ roster, wasn’t going anywhere as no one was willing to accommodate his contract and level of play. The reported Westbrook-John Wall swap also fell through due to the LA’s insistence not to include a first-round draft pick.

Rockets offered John Wall for Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick but Lakers declined, per @ChrisBHaynes https://t.co/6wp807WBYi

Unlike LeBron James’ previous stops in Cleveland and Miami, the Lakers, at this point, were not willing to do more than what the front office deemed necessary.

Cowherd dug deeper into the LA Lakers' turbulent maneuverings:

"And for the first time ever, LeBron and Klutch, they leaked stuff to say, ‘We didn’t say that!’... They got pushed back. Pat Riley pushed back a little, they bolted…The Lakers went public, put LeBron’s name on it. He didn’t like it and the media overwhelmingly, myself included, said, ‘It’s LA, you’re missing 20 games a year, it's your mess!'"

He continued:

“It was a really interesting theater to watch. And I feel like LeBron, for the first time, got a little blowback and the Lakers don’t feel like budging. And they won’t!”

LeBron James doesn’t have a player option to force the LA Lakers’ hand in the offseason

LeBron James could sign an extension next season if the LA Lakers can provide him a better supporting cast [Photo: NBA.com]

LeBron James plays it smart in everything basketball, including his contracts. This time, though, he missed out on a very powerful leverage that he has had over the years - the player option. The special feature allows the four-time champion to dictate many things, including personnel decisions. He could also just bolt out of his current situation.

That being said, the LA Lakers are still all about stockpiling championships. They will certainly do everything they can next season to bring in reinforcements and hopefully get LeBron James to sign an extension. One of the game’s greatest players only has a few years left in him, so he will surely maximize every year to win a championship.

Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka on Tuesday explaining LeBron James’ main focus is on staying with the Lakers and returning them to championship contention; there’s no action to seek management changes, per @wojespn https://t.co/A4s3FMtbYb

If LeBron James feels like he’s not winning the championship next year based on his supporting cast, he might force a shocking move out of Hollywood. It will be a truly sad day for the LA Lakers if it comes to that.