Transcription
The Lakers are having a strong start to the season. Sure. However, things off the court might not be as strong. In an article by Baxter Holmes published this week on ESPN.com, he detailed the feuding between the Buss family that may have led to the $10 billion sale of the team.
The story also pointed out issues between Jeanie Buss and LeBron James. The article states that Jeanie privately grumbled about what she felt was James' outsized ego and the overt control that he and Clutch Sports exerted over the organization at times. Clutch represents both James and Anthony Davis. The story also said that she did not like that James was considered a savior for the floundering franchise when he arrived in 2018.
After Baxter's piece was published, Jeanie Buss responded to The Athletic with a statement saying, quote, "It's really not right given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers that he has to be pulled into my family drama." To say that I wasn't appreciative just not true and completely unfair to him.
So, now we have of course Brian Windhorst back here with us on First Take and Stephen A. as well. And Wendy, I'll start with you. What was your reaction to this article?
>> It's an amazing story about an amazing family. Um, and I think if you if you take a step back and you look 10 years ago, uh, Kobe Bryant had retired. The Lakers were in a tailspin as an organization. Jeanie Buss's brother, Jim, was running basketball operations, and the results on the court implied he was running them poorly. 10 years later, she partnered with the younger members of her family to remove the older members of her family from from leadership. Then she partnered with the older members of her family to to sell the team, you know, when the younger members of her family didn't.
[music] And all of those Buss family members have now been fired. She has liquidated her holdings and become incredibly wealthy while keeping the job as governor. This has never happened in NBA history where you can actually sell the team, sell majority control of the team and remain as governor. And she did that because she negotiated a deal with a partner in Mark Walter that allowed her to do that. Look at it that way. It's incredibly effective um and some would say ruthless uh, you know, management. She did something that, you know, Dr. Jerry Buss, if it wasn't involving his his uh blood, probably would admire. And we know this about Dr. Buss because there have been many, many stories written about him, books and movies and television shows. And by the way, Jeanie Buss and the Buss family have put out their own 10-part series about their family. And she's put out her own television show based on her. Like, this is not a family that doesn't mind having its business out in the street. Okay.
What I would say about LeBron is that everybody who has worked with LeBron in his 23 years at times feels like he's a headache. And those headaches are worth it times 10. And the Lakers were absolutely in the desert until LeBron came back. And he absolutely was the savior of the franchise. And he absolutely did irritate and and bother them and wear them out. And they're thrilled that he did it. That's what the Cavs would say. That's what the Heat would say. That's what anybody who worked with them would say. All of this stuff is fascinating, but all of it is rational.
>> I completely agree. And the subject right here is about LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. I have no doubt that he's getting on their that he's gotten on their damn nerves from time to time. I mean, when you consider some of the decisions, you know, the trade involving Russell Westbrook and how Jeanie w Jeanie, you know, reportedly walked around feeling like, you know, he didn't accept accountability for when when everything's went went south uh with that particular trade. Some of the folks that they got rid of, the Kyle Kuzma's of the world, and inability to re-sign Alex Caruso and others, you know, it had his fingerprints. This is what they want to say. But the one thing that was this article I believe left out was that LeBron James was worth it. And that's what we have to that's what we really, really have to embrace here. The Lakers were nowhere. You were praying that LeBron James came to Tinseltown. And it is absolutely true that he was letting folks know he was coming to the Los Angeles Lakers, you know, the the year before he arrived. We all suspected it. Now, they wanted Magic Johnson's fingerprints on it. They wanted to they wanted it to happen while Magic Johnson was there because they had an affinity for Magic Johnson and they let it be known that, you know what, out of respect to him, they wanted him there when it happened as opposed to somebody else getting some credit for his arrival. But it was always understood that he was going to go there. It was the worst-kept secret in basketball at that particular moment in time. We all expected it and when it happened, it didn't surprise any of us, but it pleased most of us, especially people like me who love being in Southern California in May and June. I ain't apologizing for that to anybody. Okay?
And so, you know, but when you look at LeBron James, listen, there are people who dismiss the championship in the bubble. I do not. I do not. I give him and Anthony Davis and them a lot of credit for winning that championship in the bubble. I also give him credit for resurrecting this Lakers franchise and returning them to relevancy. Now, does Rich Paul and Clutch Sports, you know, talk about wielding their power, whatever. Well, let's pump the brakes on that, please. They do what any agent in their position or any agency in their position would do. If you have some muscle, you're going to flex it from time to time to ensure that your tenure is as successful as it possibly can be. You're going to make suggestions. They're going to be strong-handed suggestions like, you need to do this because if you don't, we're going to not we're not going to be happy. I'm quite sure those kinds of things have happened, but it's not a crime. And this notion that Rich Paul is some some kind of villain because Clutch Sports, you know, was wielding its power and it was leaning on LeBron James to do it. I will remind you the Lakers had really, really, really regressed to I would never say irrelevancy because we're talking about the purple and gold. We're talking about one of the greatest basketball franchise, one of the top two basketball franchises in sports annals. There's no doubt about it. But the other side to it is that LeBron did resurrect the Los Angeles Lakers. There is no question that that happened. And even in his 23rd season at over 40 years of age, 41 years of age, the brother's still doing his thing. He's out there giving you 20-plus a night. So let let's let's not pump the brakes. We all know I can be critical of him. I wouldn't hesitate. Fact of the matter is is that the man deserves a lot more credit than blame. And that's why Jeanie Buss had to come out with her statement because regardless of what her feelings may have been, regardless of what she's tacitly alluded to, uh, in the end, it doesn't usurp LeBron's contribution to the Los Angeles Lakers. He returned them [clears throat] to relevancy because for several years they were not.
>> So whenever LeBron does decide to walk away, right, he'll he'll leave the Lakers better than he came to them, right? And I think that is a big point here and what we're all trying to say. However, >> That is true. >> This seemingly seems like the end for LeBron. If he doesn't retire this year, it's definitely going to be very soon. Do you think that he should spend his last year this year, next year, whenever it may come in Los Angeles?
Be well, Shay. And I I I think Wendy, I don't know if you were on the air with me when I said it, but I'll repeat it for you anyway. I was always of the mindset that LeBron, because once Luka arrived and it was clearly Luka's franchise and the ball was going to be in his hands and everybody was talking about that's going to be the global iconic figure that they'll evolve their marketing schemes around, etc., etc. My attitude is if if you really, really want to win, how about going back to Cleveland? Now, I'm not one to advise people to leave places like LA and Miami for Cleveland. That is not what I do. But I'm thinking about basketball in this particular situation. And I'm like, could you imagine if you could keep a Mobley and you could keep a Donovan Mitchell and LeBron returned to Cleveland to end his career? There is no doubt that the Cleveland Cavaliers would have been the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference, which would have given LeBron James a last chance at a championship to end his career, which would give him five if he were to pull it off, which would tie Kobe, which would tie Tim Duncan, which would pull him to within one of Jordan, and all of those legacy things that people purport, he pays so much attention to whether he will he's willing to admit it or not. I believed him coming back to Cleveland, who for obvious reasons do and should revere this man for life, that would have been a great, great swan song for him. And believe it or not, I still think although highly unlikely, still remotely possible. I think it's something if if he were willing to consider it, of course, I think he should because I think that if LeBron returned back to Cleveland, as long as you keep the Mobleys and the Donovan Mitchells of the world, you're talking championship even in his 23rd season with him over 40 years of age because of what Donovan Mitchell and Mobley can bring to the table with his leadership and his basketball IQ and and acumen. I think that that's something he should have considered. I said that months ago.
>> Shay, I think LeBron's future is going to go one of three ways. One, he is going to leave in free agency and go somewhere like Stephen A. said, um, whether it's Cleveland, whether it's another place. I think I agree, you know, he can't go to any franchise for a number of different reasons. His standards, you know, he's always going to keep his legacy in mind. He's he's not going to go to the Memphis Grizzlies. No offense. I'm not just singling them out, but that's the team he almost went to in 2003. That's why I say that's not going to happen. Okay. The second thing he can do is he can stay at the Lakers, but he's got to take a pay cut. Um, that that, you know, and when Rich Paul said on his podcast last week that when he talked about trading Austin Reaves, the reason he's saying that is because the Lakers currently spend $120 million on Luka, LeBron, and Reaves. All three of them are perimeter-based ball handlers who don't defend. You don't have to be Red Auerbach to know that ain't going to work. Okay? So, uh, one of them is going to have to go away. Obviously, Rich wants LeBron to stay, but they can't he can't come back at the same price. He can come back. Can't come back with the same price. And it's coming back with a pay cut's difficult. Or number three, he can retire. Those are his three choices. It's actually somewhat simple his situation. Now, only LeBron knows how his body feels. He is the only person who's going to be able to say whether he can go another year. But I will tell you, when you watch him play, and yes, there are nights when you can tell he feels 41. But when you watch him play, this guy has left in the tank. And it could be left in the tank in Los Angeles, and it could end up working out there. Just not just not at the same price. But I will say one thing, Stephen A., about LeBron's time in in with the Lakers. It is strange to me that more people focus on that Westbrook trade and who the father of that Westbrook trade was then focused on the fact that he won the championship. That they had not made the playoffs for six years. He came in and in his second year, he got him to winning the championship. And the fact that since you had just won the title, but because it was in the B in the bubble and it was essentially a truncated season, the attitude was come back for a full season and defend that crown with the personnel that you have in place. Now, that's easier said than done because of the dollars, you know, looking for >> Nobody's defended the crown in a decade, >> right? What do you mean? >> Bubble bubble forever. >> No, no, no, no, no. But but the point is when you win a championship go a full 82 games and then that season it's no fault of LeBron or anybody else's but because the season was obviously derailed due to COVID and you see the injury history of an Anthony Davis, the mentality was if you had to go straight through 82 regular season games, would Anthony Davis have been available for you? My attitude is don't give me injuries because that could happen to anybody. Look at what he did when he was on the basketball court. And I believe if Anthony Davis was on the basketball court with the team as constructed, they would have defended their crown. That's my belief. But we'll never know.
>> Uh LeBron going back to Cleveland would be like the best story for us in television, right? It would be such a storybook ending. We would love to talk about it. It just feels like so much work though for him to do. Like it'd be so much work for him to put in. Not that he can't do it. It just feels like maybe it would be more for us than him. I don't know. He's talking about >> Donovan Mitchell and Eric and Evan Mobley with LeBron. Oh, they could do it. I don't think it's that much work. He has a private jet and >> it's not that much work. >> It's not that [snorts and clears throat] much work. >> He can't take a pay cut. >> He's going to have to he's going to have to play for lower than market value, but it can be done. Whether or not it happens is another story.
>> We will find out. [music]