If you're a Los Angeles Lakers fan who wants to believe that the relationship between the franchise and LeBron James is a somewhat fractured one, you would've loved Dave McMenamin's recent article for ESPN, which detailed multiple instances of the Lakers potentially rubbing Bron the wrong way.
While the example that made the most noise on social media was Rob Pelinka giving a game ball this past regular season to JJ Redick on the night that LeBron became the NBA's all-time wins leader, there's other stuff worthy of criticism.
McMenamin also revealed that the Lakers had an onlooker try to objectively evaluate LeBron's play this past season as a means to arrive at his proper contract value.
Lakers allegedly engaged in some sketchy surveillance of LeBron James this season
"An onlooker was asked to observe James play for a stretch, disregard his name and age and evaluate his play to come up with a salary number that 'anonymous' player would deserve next season," McMenamin wrote.
Not only was this a sketchy tactic from the Lakers (if true), it also doesn't seem very realistic. How is one supposed to look at one of the greatest athletes of all time as 'anonymous'? That's already an impossible assignment.
This scenario also makes Pelinka look bad, because it implies that he's avoiding the responsibility of evaluating LeBron himself and coming to a decision on his value. Isn't that ... Pelinka's job? Isn't he the guy supposed to make these tough evaluations and consequent decisions? Figuring out LeBron's value isn't something you want to be delegating to the intern down the hall.
Reported Lakers-LeBron rift doesn't bode well for his return in 2026-27
The reporting from McMenamin certainly didn't make Lakers fans in support of a LeBron return feel great. We saw during Tuesday's exit interview that Pelinka said a bunch of politically correct things about LeBron, like how Pelinka would like to "honor" LeBron by allowing him some downtime before discussing the future.
Meanwhile, we know that Pelinka is on the clock and facing a high-pressure offseason that he cannot afford to underperform during as the team's roster builder.
We also know that Pelinka doesn't really have the cap space that everyone seems to think he has, and that the Lakers' chances of constructing a contending roster are kind of already doomed.
All of these alleged shenanigans with LeBron don't add any good vibes to the situation. It reeks of deflected responsibility and a lack of accountability. And it aligns with the Lakers' curious decision to hire a bunch of new front office staff under Pelinka this summer during a time when the decision-making process certainly shouldn't be outsourced beyond Pelinka's and JJ Redick's brains.
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