The Lakers haven’t had the best of years this 2018/19 season. Over the past couple of months, rumors have circulated regarding upper management not getting along, thus resulting in Magic Johnson stepping down. Not only did Johnson leave, but he managed to air out his frustrations of general manager Rob Pelinka, calling him a liar and a backstabber.
With this, rumors have also circulated that LeBron James might be unhappy with the organization and might be looking to leave elsewhere. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Bill Plaschke, there might be scenarios where James would want to leave. Plaschke says that the former Cavaliers’ star might leave the Lakers if they fail to get a big-name player or win a trade.
“I’m hearing that if they whiff on free agency, and if they whiff on a trade, which I don’t know how likely that is, but if that happens, they’ve got big trouble with LeBron,” Plaschke said. “I heard this for the first time yesterday, somebody very connected said ‘You know what, if they whiff, LeBron’s going to say either I’m out of here or get me out of here, or the Lakers just might as well just get him out of here.’ So this is huge.”
LeBron has yet to comment on the rumors, but he might not address them. Considering he’s looking to pursuit opportunities in Hollywood, it also seems unlikely that he’ll leave. Either way, hopefully the Lakers do well this off-season to build a competitive team for the upcoming season.
