Despite Lebron James’ very public and subtle pushes for the Los Angeles Lakers to make some moves to improve the team for the second half, a new report claims the organization has no plans of caving into his demands.
The Los Angeles Lakers head into the week just a game over .500 and in a serious fight for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Despite this same team reaching the Western Conference Finals last season, they have struggled in 2023-24. It is a confusing situation that few can explain, however, most believe something has to change, including incumbent superstar Lebron James.
- Lebron James stats (2023-24): 24.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 39% 3PT
Following a recent loss, the NBA legend took to X, formerly Twitter, and posted an hourglass emoji. Seemingly suggesting time is running out on their chances to improve the roster. Then over the weekend, the future Hall-of-Famer implied his time in LA could soon end and he’s open to playing for the New York Knicks before his career is over.
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Los Angeles Lakers ignoring Lebron James’ latest subtle threats
Yet, despite his public strategy to passive-aggressively push the front office to make changes, a new report claims they are not going to be forced into the wrong decision just to make their top star happy.
On Sunday morning, ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst spoke about James’ comments on the Lakers, and it seems despite being a master of persuasion through passive-aggressive tactics, this latest attempt is having little effect on the organization’s strategy before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline.
“The Lakers to this point, from what I am told by sources, have not reacted to LeBron’s maneuvers, including wearing the Knicks towel last night, and they have kind of held firm in their talks,” Windhorst said (via B/R). “The issue with the Lakers is they have only a couple of draft assets left, and they just want to hold onto them.”
James has a player option for over $51 million this summer. While it would seem impossible that he could choose not to exercise it, he reportedly badly wants another NBA title before ending his career in the next couple of seasons. So, he certainly has the leverage to scare the Los Angeles Lakers into making a trade. It will be fascinating to see how the franchise handles the next few days.
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