LeBron James clears air on comments surrounding future
By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
Over the past week, everyone has wondered what the heck LeBron James was thinking.
Was his unsolicited praise of other general managers a subtle dig at Rob Pelinka? Were his comments about leaving the door open to returning to Cleveland his way of saying he wants out of Los Angeles?
He tried to put the guessing game to rest after his team's 105-102 loss to the LA Clippers on Friday. In short: No, he wasn't taking a shot at Pelinka. And he'd like to play with the Lakers for as long as he can.
James claims that everyone has been reading between the lines too much. He said his words have been twisted. He said the narrative took a dramatic turn that left him scratching his head.
First, a bit of context: James is the master of subtly getting his point across without explicitly saying it. He has been at this for 19 seasons and has been in the national spotlight since he was in middle school. He's known as having one of the highest basketball IQs ever — and his media IQ is at least as savvy.
So it's understandable that when James went on a tour de force of praising other general managers, everyone took it as his hinting that he wasn't happy with Pelinka, who stood pat at the trade deadline, even though the Lakers had skidded to ninth place in the Western Conference.
But James said we all got it wrong.
James said he's "very confident" the front office can build a championship team around him, adding that he never intended a jab at Pelinka. But before we get into that, let's rewind a bit. Here's what happened around All-Star weekend.
James used a question about Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey to rave about Sam Presti. He lauded Cleveland's Koby Altman, pointing out his savvy draft picks and trades that have led to his former team's resurgence. And he tweeted about Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead and the T-shirt he wore to the championship parade that read "F--- them picks."
On Friday, James said all of that was innocent and called it "weird" that reporters took those comments for anything other than face value. He went on to break it down.
Regarding Presti: "I really believe he’s done a phenomenal job," James said. "And you guys spin that to me saying that Rob is not doing a great job."
Regarding Snead: "I loved his f---ing T-shirt," James said. "I thought it was dope. And I believe the same way — I don’t care about picks. I care about winning championships. Well, how is that directed at Rob and the Lakers’ franchise? Rob has done the same thing. He went and got AD [Anthony Davis]. He didn’t care about picks as well, obviously."
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James was referring to when the Lakers overturned their roster in 2019 to acquire Davis from New Orleans in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft. That gamble paid off, leading to the Lakers' first championship in 10 years.
But this season is far different. The Lakers once again overhauled their roster this offseason, this time to acquire Russell Westbrook. That move has been a bust so far, resulting in a team with championship aspirations that likely will to need to claw its way into the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
As for James' comments in The Athletic that "the door is not closed" to him returning to Cleveland, James said his words were misunderstood there, too.
"I don’t understand how some of my comments over the weekend was taken to a whole different area of, ‘Could I see myself retiring as a Cavalier?’" James said. "I never said I would see myself playing in a Cavaliers uniform."
Instead, James claims he said, "I don't know what tomorrow holds, but me actually playing for the Cavs, I don't know about that." He added that he was then asked, "Would you just come here and sign for a day and retire as a Cav?" He says his response was: "Well, that possibly could be."
However, in the same interview, James said he wouldn't take a midlevel exception to return to Cleveland. Obviously, a midlevel exception wouldn't apply to a one-day contract.
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The point is that James' words spread like wildfire across the internet, and he clearly didn't like the fallout. Everyone was talking about his obvious discontent with the Lakers and what that could mean. The narrative dominated All-Star weekend.
To smooth things over, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, as first reported by ESPN. A source confirmed this to be true to FOX Sports.
James acknowledged that things needed to be addressed.
"You guys saw the report. I saw the report," he said. "I was literally just trying to get away from the game as much as I could before this later stage takes over. But I think it’s important that it always stays transparent between us, and we don’t really care about the outside noise."
As for his future with the Lakers, James, who becomes a free agent in 2023, sort of cleared that up, saying, "This is a franchise I see myself being with."
But he also added, "I live in the moment."
It's clear that things are still playing out. James' disappointment this season has been palpable for months. During All-Star weekend, he called this the strangest season of his career.
Even though he attempted to provide clarity Friday, there were still some ambiguities. How could there not be? James is a four-time NBA champion who led Cleveland and Miami to the NBA Finals in eight straight seasons. He doesn't like to lose. And right now, this Lakers team can't seem to figure out how to win.
This much is for sure: James reiterated that his dream is to play with his 17-year-old son, Bronny, and he confirmed that will take precedence over everything else for him.
"I see myself being with the purple and gold as long as I can play," he said. "But I also have a goal that if it's possible — I don't even know if it's possible — that if I can play with my son, I would love to do that. Is that, like, something that any man shouldn't want that in life? That's, like, the coolest thing that could possibly happen. That doesn't mean I don't want to be with this franchise."
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
