On Wednesday, a revealing article on ESPN by Baxter Holmes dropped that described the drama that has taken place within the Buss family, which purchased the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979, over the last decade or two. The article talks about the long process that resulted in the family agreeing to sell a majority stake in the franchise to Mark Walter just months ago.
The article also includes some additional nuggets about a supposed rift between Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and LeBron James. Reportedly, Buss considered trading James in 2022 and seemed reluctant to give him a contract extension in 2024.
NBA insider Chris Haynes said during a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio that he feels Holmes’ report is an indication that a big move could be on its way.
“I just question, ‘Why now?’” Haynes said. “And if it’s ‘why now,’ usually when things like this start to trickle out, something’s about to go down. I don’t know what that is, but that’s usually how this works.”
If there is a big move on the way, as Haynes seemed to claim, one may wonder if it will entail James getting traded. The Feb. 5 trade deadline is just two weeks away, which would give James’ camp very little time to request a trade and then approve a trade that would send James to a team that could contend for the NBA championship right away after trading away assets for him.
James, whose contract will expire at the end of this season, has a very rare no-trade clause in his contract, which allows him to reject any trades that involve him. That means that actually pulling off any trade that sends him out of town would be extremely complicated and difficult.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Insider: ‘Something’s about to go down’ after Buss, LeBron report
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
