With LeBron James entering his final year with the L.A. Lakers, famed NBA coach and Lakers adviser Phil Jackson is reportedly suggesting that the team trade LeBron James.
According to L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss says that Jackson is advising that the team make a big change.
“I’ve heard that Phil would like LeBron traded. I’ve just heard that, but I’ve got nothing to back that up. No on-the-record stuff to back that up. I do know that Phil would like to keep Westbrook and try to make that work with him,” Plaschke said Tuesday on the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Buss also noted that she is getting council from Jackson and Magic Johnson, but she added that she still supports Rob Pelinka.
The Lakers owner also said that she is good friends with Jackson, and, of course, she dated him for a while.
“People see us around town, we have breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever… it’s not anything romantic,” she said of Jackson. “He’s somebody that knows this environment and knows the challenges I have and wants to see the Lakers successful, so he’s somebody I know doesn’t have any other agenda than for the Lakers to be successful, so he’s somebody that I can lean on.”
There was a bit of bad blood between Jackson and James.
In 2016, Jackson referred to James and his camp as a “posse.”
At the time, James blasted Jackson, saying, “To use that label, and if you go and read the definition of what the word ‘posse’ is, it’s not what I’ve built over my career. It’s not what I stand for, it’s not what my family stands for. I believe the only reason he used that word is because he sees young African Americans trying to make a difference.”
It probably isn’t likely that the team would trade James in his final year. It is also not likely that the team would pick Westbrook over James in his final year. Still, it is beyond doubt that LeBron is simply not playing at the same level as he once did.
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