The Lakers definitely have the gift of always being in the headlines, even if they are no longer on the court. Latest case in Los Angeles: the management of the franchise would point the finger at Klutch Sports, the agency representing LeBron James and Anthony Davis, for its role in the choice of the recruitment of Russell Westbrook. We take stock.
When the lights of the Crypto.com Arena go out, those of the City of Angels are still twinkling, and the Hollywood show continues its frantic broom. So even if basketball has been packing for almost three weeks now and will not show up until next October in Los Angeles, the city’s star franchise never stops talking about it. Eric Pincus, NBA reporter for Bleacher Report, evoked within the framework of a file devoted to the weight of the players in the sporting choices of the teams, of the tensions between the direction of the Lakers and the camp LeBron James – Anthony Davis. The California front office would actually have it bad against Klutch Sports, the agency representing Toto Davis and Bronbron James. The source of this confusion? The recruitment of Russell Westbrook, which would have been largely influenced by the two superstars represented by Rich Paul’s box. Of course, everything should be taken with a grain of salt, since these are only echoes of conversations, but this indicates rather well the mess that must reign in the offices of the Purple and Gold. To complete this information, remember that Magic Johnson had confided less than a month ago to ESPN on the abortive arrival of DeMar DeRozan in LA, in favor of Russ West because of the alleged action of LeBron James behind the scenes.
« James certainly has a strong influence on the Lakers’ decision-making. Multiple sources indicate the team’s front office is internally blaming pressure from Klutch Sports Group (representing both James and Davis) for Westbrook.”
good morning @hmfaigen! https://t.co/d5nSC6wJLW
– Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) April 27, 2022
The situation at the Lakers is therefore quite… special, with everyone seeming to point fingers at everyone as to who is responsible for this year’s bitter failure. It will be necessary to follow this all summer, because the movements in the workforce of the Angelinos should be important. We spoke to you recently about the first rumors of the transfer of Russell Westbrook, a sign that the player is at the heart of the tension of all stakeholders in the franchise. Eric Pincus also rightly recalls that LeBron will be subject to a potential contract extension this summer, so getting on bad terms with the King would be quite inappropriate. This may explain why the Lakers would include James so much in decisions, especially since as a player represented by Klutch Sports, his future is in some way linked to that of Anthony Davis… Just imagine for a moment the earthquake if the two stars packed up. Rob Pelinka, general manager of the team, will therefore certainly have to step up to try to fix all this and above all limit as much as possible this type of noise which is absolutely not beneficial to his group.
The Lakers are definitely very good at drawing attention to themselves, even if it’s not to talk about basketball per se. The situation seems tense, but we must always be careful with this type of rumour. We will obviously follow all this, while waiting for everyone to officially speak to possibly clarify things.
Sources texte : Bleacher Report/ESPN
