Los Angeles Lakers governor and minority owner Jeanie Buss believed LeBron James wasn’t appreciative enough of the franchise drafting his son Bronny James in 2024, sources told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
Buss denied the report, however, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama,” Buss told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”
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Bronny has made 51 combined appearances over two seasons with the Lakers but has yet to crack head coach JJ Redick’s main rotation. This season, he’s averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 assists in 6.8 minutes per contest over 24 appearances.
Scouts initially rated Bronny highly, but a lackluster college season drastically lowered his stock. He played 25 games for USC in 2023-24, making six starts, and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. His Trojans debut was delayed by a month after he went into cardiac arrest during a practice in July 2023.
Rich Paul, the agent of LeBron and Bronny, said during a July 2024 appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that Buss made the decision to draft the USC product. A month later, Buss defended the pick herself, stating that Bronny had already emerged as “one of the hardest-working guys on the team.”
Bronny made his professional debut in the Lakers’ first game of the 2024-25 season as he and LeBron became the first father-son duo to play concurrently in the NBA.
Buss first developed resentment for the elder James after Los Angeles acquired Russell Westbrook in July 2021, sources told Holmes. The then-principal owner of the Lakers reportedly grew frustrated because the move was made to satisfy James, but she believed that he dodged accountability for the poor season that followed the Westbrook acquisition.
In 2022, Buss considered trading James to their local rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, sources told Holmes. She reportedly also contemplated not extending the four-time MVP, though James eventually signed a two-year, $97-million extension in August.
James then recommitted to the franchise as a free agent in July 2024 on a two-year, $104-million deal that contains a no-trade clause. The contract expires following the 2025-26 season. The NBA’s all-time scoring leader hasn’t announced whether he intends to retire after the campaign.
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