Outside of the championship in the bubble, LeBron James‘ tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers has been more about individual accolades than team success.
The franchise has celebrated him and all his impressive milestones for eight years, regardless of the early playoff exits.
However, as he heads to free agency, James might not feel valued by the organization.
According to ESPN insider Dave McMenamin, James thinks the Lakers are taking him for granted, citing a story of a March win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James feels the Lakers take him for granted
James got his 1,229th career win, the most in NBA history (including playoffs), while Luka Doncic and Rui Hachimura reached 15,000 and 5,000 career points, respectively. Nevertheless, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka gave the game ball to J.J. Redick instead.
“Rather than hand it to Hachimura or Doncic or James, Pelinka walked to the front of the room and presented the ball to Redick, who had just presided over his 100th coaching win,” McMenamin wrote.
The report adds that James has a great relationship with his coach — who also happened to be his business partner in a podcast just months before getting the job. Even so, James felt disrespected by Pelinka’s decision.
“…But James, who played the past eight seasons in Los Angeles and helped deliver the franchise its 17th championship in 2020, saw Pelinka’s priority in that moment as yet another example of the Lakers taking him for granted,” he added.
While that might be fair to a degree, that’s also the risk of playing for so long.
Essentially, the Lakers and the league have paid James hundreds of tributes, so it was only right that they gave a first-time head coach some flowers for accomplishing such an impressive milestone in so little time.
James feels that the same organization that drafted his son — who was projected to go undrafted — and hired his podcast co-host — who didn’t have any previous head coaching experience — as his next coach, doesn’t value him.
That just doesn’t add up. The Lakers have bent over backward to cater to LeBron James’ every need, as they should for a player of his caliber.
That said, this is a business first and foremost, and with Luka Doncic in town, it’s only right that they pivot toward the younger superstar. That’s also a part of playing for as long as James has done it.