“Quite frankly, I don’t really care about articles,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I really don’t. I don’t care about stories. I don’t care about podcasts and all that type of s–t. Nah, they don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day. I don’t care about an article. I don’t care how somebody feels about me. If you know me personally and you know what I’m about, (my teammates) know what I’m about, and that’s all that matters. … I can care less how somebody feels about me.”
Jeanie issued a response to Wednesday’s report, which focused primarily on Buss family drama and the decision to sell the team to Mark Walter. In a statement to The Athletic, she said the idea that she doesn’t appreciate what James has done for the franchise is “just not true and completely unfair to him.”
Asked specifically about his working relationship with Jeanie, LeBron said he believes they’re on good terms.
“But, you know, somebody could see it another way,” James said. “It’s always two sides of the coin. … How I represented this franchise, and what I wanted to do to represent this franchise since when I got here until now, it’s been with the utmost respect and honor and dignity. And I would say loyalty. I mean, s–t, I played here longer than pretty much any other franchise I played for besides Cleveland.”
ESPN’s report, written by Baxter Holmes, cited several specific moments or incidents over the years that allegedly irked Buss. For instance, according to Holmes, she chafed at the fact that — after pushing the Lakers to trade for Russell Westbrook — James seemed to wash his hands of that move when it didn’t work out, leaving management to take the blame.
Holmes also wrote that Buss didn’t like LeBron being painted as the “savior” of a struggling franchise when he signed with the Lakers as a free agent in 2018.
“My whole mindset was about restoring excellence,” James said on Thursday of his decision to join the Lakers. “The things that I saw growing up with the Lakers — obviously, I didn’t get an opportunity to watch the Showtime (era), but I know the history. Then the early 2000s with Shaq and Kobe, and then what Kobe did and those couple runs with him and Pau. So, my whole mindset was like, how can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization?
“… I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16 other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here. That’s always been my mindset.”
Even if — as Holmes’ reporting suggested — Buss privately harbored some level of resentment toward LeBron, those feelings never actually impacted the moves the Lakers made with the four-time MVP. James has signed three maximum-salary or near-max multiyear contracts with the Lakers, most recently in 2024 when he agreed to a two-year, $101.4M deal that made him one of just two NBA players with a formal no-trade clause.
Asked on Thursday, if he would consider waiving that NTC or if he wants to finish out the season with the Lakers, the 41-year-old laughed and replied, “I’m good. I’m good.”