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It is not often that a bombshell report drops like the one ESPN’s Baxter Holmes just published about Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. In it, he outlines the Lakers CEO’s disdain for LeBron James‘ “outsized ego” and how drafting LeBron’s son, Bronny James, became a point of contention.
The Lakers are currently 26-16 this season and sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference with LeBron James‘ contract ending after this season. These quote certainly will not help the locker room in the coming weeks.
What Did Jeanie Buss Say About LeBron James?
The article, published on Wednesday, covers years of LeBron James’ time with the Lakers. But to save you all a few precious minutes, here is the first mention of Bronny James:
And when the Lakers drafted James’ son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn’t, people close to the team told ESPN.
That summer, as she discussed a new contract for James, Jeanie seemed more resigned to the fact that they’d have to do it — almost begrudgingly accepting that they’d take a massive PR hit by not doing so.
In one fell swoop, it is alleged that she believed LeBron James should be grateful toward her for drafting his son with a high pick, essentially guaranteeing him a big contract, and by expressing that resigning LeBron was an obligation to avoid blow back from fans, not because they actually wanted LeBron within the system.
Not great!
But how does she feel about King James?
So that was primarily about Bronny James and the subsequent animosity felt toward LeBron over it…But what about Jeanie Buss and LeBron James’ relationship. Surely the Lakers CEO and co-owner is proud to have the best player over the past few decades on her team, right?
Here’s what the report goes on to say:
“Team sources told ESPN she even began to turn against the Lakers’ star player, LeBron James. Jeanie privately grumbled, people close to the team say, about what she felt was James’ outsized ego and the overt control that he and Klutch Sports, which represents both James and Anthony Davis, exerted over the organization at times.”
Again, not great! But surely everyone can admit that LeBron has a big ego. Jeanie Buss isn’t alone in thinking that. But what she said did not stop there…
“She didn’t like that James was considered a savior for a floundering franchise when he arrived in 2018 and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team’s leadership receiving praise for landing him. Team sources have been adamant for years that James’ camp informed the Lakers as early as 2017 that he was coming to join them when he became a free agent the following year.”
The mention of Klutch Sports (and Rich Paul by extension) is interesting. That opened a window of opportunity for LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, to respond to the report about Jeanie Buss.
He did so in a recent episode of the Game Over Podcast:
Rich Paul full response on the Jeanie Buss article involving LeBron and Klutch Sports power 🚨
“There’s an article written every day. Who gives a sh*t. I don’t. You don’t know what’s true what’s not true. I seen some stuff that came out and obviously they talked about different… pic.twitter.com/LX2fR3TSA0
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 21, 2026
For Rich Paul to come out swinging with “who gives a s—? I don’t. You don’t know what’s true what’s not true” is interesting. He clearly isn’t losing sleep over this.
Rich Paul goes on to talk about how there is no evidence, yet, that any of this is true. And while that might be the case, Lakers CEO and co-owner Jeanie Buss will certainly be asked about all of this in the days ahead.
To read the report in full, visit the link to ESPN up at the top of this article!