"He was true to his word"- Jeanie Buss is grateful that LeBron James stuck by his statement and trusted the Lakers front office
LeBron James is the face of the NBA even at the age of 38. While it is great to have this amount of recognition, it can create trouble for his team's management.
The LA Lakers management, led by Rob Pelinka, made several moves prior to the trade deadline last season. This saved their campaign and propelled them from barely making the play-in tournament to advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
Jeanie Buss was recently asked about her thoughts on Lebron James' deferral to the front office to make the necessary moves and support whatever they chose.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Buss said the following:
"He [LeBron James] was true to his word in terms of supporting the organization and the decisions that the organization is making. It was exactly what he meant.
"He would be in support of the decisions that the organization was making like hiring a new head coach. I can’t speak for LeBron. But he was true to that statement, and we appreciate his support."
In July 2021, LeBron James pushed the Lakers' management to make a trade for Russell Westbrook. In hindsight, this was not a good move as it put the Lakers out of the playoffs, let alone NBA title contention.
Given that James missed his first playoffs, there was a lot of chatter suggesting James was pushing the management to part with Westbrook.
However, in a fortunate turn of events, James assured the management that he would trust them and remain patient.
Is LeBron James frustrated with Anthony Davis?
Earlier this offseason, Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio reported that LeBron James was frustrated with Anthony Davis' injury history.
Rumors like this have surrounded James for his entire career. There are also talks regarding James being frustrated with the management, his coach, or one of his teammates. This time it was his co-star and all-star, Anthony Davis. However, these rumors are not true.
Here is what Mark Medina from Sportsnaut had to say:
"A person familiar with James’ thinkingtstressed that James only has felt upset with Davis’ various circumstances as opposed to him personally.
“LeBron is not frustrated with AD. LeBron is thankful for AD. Does he wish that both could play and stay healthy the whole time? Of course. But it’s not like he wants a guy to go out there and get injured."
It is hard to tell who might be telling the truth. It wouldn't be a surprise if James indeed did express frustration, but it is likely that James' comments were put out of context.
It is likely that what James meant was that he would of course love an injury-free Davis, but this does not necessarily mean that he has an issue with Davis in particular.