LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, and he certainly deserves that honor. He has been lauded for empowering his teammates by not only being a great passer, but also by helping coach them and putting them in position to succeed.
However, James has also been criticized for his perceived outsized influence on his teams’ personnel moves, some of which have been questionable or even downright bad. The Los Angeles Lakers’ failed Russell Westbrook trade of 2021 had his fingerprints all over it, and it left many with a bad taste in their mouths.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton went off on the four-time MVP for his role on roster moves during a recent podcast.
Via Fadeaway World:
“I don’t know what it’s like to sit in that front office and have things dictating to you like a plan, and it appears LeBron is,” Stockton said on the DNP-CD podcast.
“I don’t know for sure that he is, but it’d be maddening as a teammate to know that you can be expendable for one of his guys that he thinks he needs to play with. The iffiness it causes with the team, the iffiness that it causes upstairs.”
By December 2021, once it became clear that Westbrook wasn’t going to fit in that well with the Lakers, James and his camp, which included agent Rich Paul, reportedly looked to have the 2017 league MVP traded. It took a while before he was dealt, but over the last several months, it appears as if James’ influence over the Lakers may be waning.
They could’ve made one more move for Kyrie Irving this offseason, and they were rumored to be interested in Chris Paul, a member of James’ “Banana Boat” crew. But instead, they stayed the course, opting for roster continuity and incremental improvement rather than chasing big names.
