Buss family drama is not new to the Lakers or their fanbase. From the moment team governor Jeanie removed her brother, Jim, from his front office role, the Lakers have, at times, resembled a soap opera more than a basketball team.
However, that has often existed in a vacuum, existing alongside the on-court Lakers and rarely overlapping. That is until Wednesday when, in Baxter Holmes of ESPN’s piece on Jeanie and the Buss family, LeBron James was pulled into the mix.
The story described a seemingly deteriorating relationship between Jeanie and LeBron since the 2020 title. The culmination of sorts came when Jeanie reportedly considered trading LeBron in 2022.
In the aftermath of the story, Jeanie released a statement pushing back on the idea that she has not appreciated LeBron while also, more hilariously, saying not to drag him into the family’s drama.
On Friday, LeBron spoke to the media for the first time after the team’s loss to the Clippers. To say he was unbothered would be an understatement.
In a lengthy response, LeBron spoke about not caring about stories and reports and discussed his motivations for coming to the organization, which was also a topic in Holmes’ piece.
“At the end of the day,” LeBron said, “when I came to this organization, my whole mindset was about restoring excellence and the things I seen growing up with the Lakers. Obviously, I didn’t get an opportunity to watch Showtime, but I know the history. Then, in the early 2000s with Shaq and Kob’ and then what Kob’ did those couple runs with him and Pau, my whole mindset was ‘How can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization.’
“When the Lakers and Knicks and Bulls and Celtics are good, it’s great. And I was able to do that along with 14, 16 other guys, winning a championship, bringing a championship. That’s always been my mind. Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles. I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of shit. It don’t bother me…If you know me personally, then you know what I’m about.”
He was also asked about his relationship with Jeanie directly and where he felt it stood in light of the reports.
“I thought it was good,” LeBron said. “But somebody can see it another way. There’s always two sides of the coin. At the end of the day, how I represented this franchise and what I wanted to do to represent this franchise when I got here until now is with the utmost respect and dignity and I would say loyalty.”
That’s not really a great statement, but it was also one delivered in a way that didn’t feel like a shot at Jeanie. Granted, that’s me reading into things and LeBron could have meant it some other kind of way. However, the whole tone of his interview was more dismissive of the whole story than passive-aggressive.
LeBron was pushed one more time after that response about his relationship with Jeanie and, specifically, if the two had been in contact since the story’s release.
“We never talk,” LeBron said. “It’s like me and Jeanie be on the phone talking. You guys ain’t ever heard a report about that. Don’t make something out of it that it’s not. It’s always been mutual, it’s always been respect, it’s always been a great partnership but it’s not like I call Jeanie on the phone. It’s not like I called [Heat owner] Micky Arison or [Cavaliers owner] Dan Gilbert on the phone.
“Come on guys. Don’t make this more than what it is. I don’t care.”
To my point above, this all felt like LeBron wanting to downplay the whole situation. Considering he easily could have made a much bigger deal about this if he wished, it does feel notable that he chose this path instead.
All that being said, it also likely wasn’t completely nothing to LeBron. It certainly adds another layer to LeBron’s impending free agency and whether this further signals the end of LeBron’s time in LA.
Because the Lakers can’t just be a normal franchise.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
