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After an All-Star break filled with speculation, LeBron James sent a strong message about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers following the team’s loss to the Clippers on Friday, February 25, 2022.
James spoke to the media after the game and made his stance on his future clear — if he’s in the NBA, he wants to be wearing a Lakers uniform.
“I live in the moment. And I see myself being with the purple and gold as long as I can play,” James told reporters.
On top of his comments about moving on to other teams, James has also openly praised other general managers around the league — like Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti — which appeared to be veiled shots at Lakers GM Rob Pelinka. James blamed the media for twisting his words in those situations to create a different narrative.
“You guys take my words and just twist them to different places where they shouldn’t go. Like if I comment or compliment the GM that’s in OKC,” James said in the post-game presser. “I really believe that he’s done a phenomenal job. And you guys spin that to me saying that Rob [Pelinka] is not doing a great job. Or if I say the GM from the Rams, I loved his f****** T-shirt. I thought it was dope. And I believe the same way. I don’t care about picks. I only care about winning championships.”
LeBron James Fires Back Over Rumors
The question becomes if James is just trying to quell what has become a runaway fire of speculation about his future, or if he truly means that he wants to finish his career in a Lakers uniform. It was just a week ago that James was revving up the conversation about returning to Cleveland and doing whatever it takes to play with his son for his final year in the NBA.
“The door’s not closed on that,” James told The Athletic when asked about a potential return to Cleveland, according to a February 19 report. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”
He added: “My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
James was upset about those comments being misconstrued and stretched into different storylines.
“I don’t understand how some of my comments over the weekend was taken to a whole different area,” he said during the press conference. “I never said I could see myself playing in a Cavaliers uniform. I talked to Jason Lloyd [of The Athletic] and he asked me, and I said ‘well, I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but actually me playing for the Cavs, I don’t know. I don’t know about that. Could I see myself retiring as a Cav?’ And he asked me, like ‘what if you just came here and signed for a day and retired as a Cav?’ And I said ‘that possibly could be.’”
James Satisfied With Lakers Front Office
Much of the tension between James and the Lakers stemmed from a stagnant trade deadline. Despite flailing below .500, the Lakers and Pelinka chose to stand pat, refusing to deal their 2027 first-round pick — their only true asset of value.
Despite that, James feels that the Lakers have done a good job of putting a championship-caliber roster around him. A reporter asked James in Friday’s post-game talk about his “level of confidence” that the team’s front office could create “championship-contending rosters.”
“Very confident. I mean, they’ve done it,” James responded. “Ever since I got here, the front office, Jeanie, Linda, Kurt and everybody has welcomed me with open arms. And has given me an opportunity to play for a historical franchise and welcomed my family in, and I just try to give back my part of the game and inspire kids and inspire people that want to follow the Lakers and put them back at a level that they’re accustomed to being. And that’s always been my focus.”
While tensions between LeBron James’ agency Klutch Sports and the Lakers were rumored to be high, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that James’ intention going forward is to remain with the team:
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, insisting that there’s no movement underway to seek management changes and that he believes there’s a shared accountability for the franchise’s disappointing season, sources told ESPN.
Paul — whose agency represents stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis — made it clear that James’ primary objective is remaining a Laker and the goal now ought to be to finish the season as strong as possible and then regroup in the offseason and work on ways to improve the team, sources said.
After the 105-102 loss to the Clippers on Friday, the Lakers sit at 27-32 and need a strong run to close out the year just to be in playoff contention.
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