LeBron James, Klutch Sports clearly unhappy with Rob Pelinka
By John Buhler
LeBron James and Klutch Sports are not exactly thrilled with the job Rob Pelinka has done recently as the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers are below .500 at the NBA All-Star Break, leading LeBron James and Klutch Sports to point the finger at general manager Rob Pelinka.
Unless things turn around very quickly, the Lakers will likely be taking part in the play-in tournament for the second consecutive postseason. No. 9-seeded Los Angeles (27-31) is six games back of the No. 6-seeded Denver Nuggets (33-25) in the Western Conference standings to avoid taking part in the play-in tournament. Klutch Sports is not happy and neither is King James.
The Lakers may have an old and injury-riddled roster put together by Pelinka, but James had to have played a big part in this mediocre team’s overall construction.
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James, Klutch Sports frustrated with Rob Pelinka
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reported “Klutch is not happy with Pelinka.” He cited that both parties have not always had the best relationship, but it reached a tipping point when Pelinka would not trade Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook and a future first-round pick in exchange for Klutch client and Houston Rockets point guard John Wall. This would have been an awful trade.
Sam Amick of The Athletic later added all the times James has been passive aggressive during All-Star Weekend when it comes to his general manager. From calling the team’s first half “a hell-storm of a season” to tweeting about Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl champion general manager Les Snead’s “F*** them picks” t-shirt he wore at the parade, it is obvious that James is not happy.
James and Klutch Sports may not be fans of what Pelinka is doing, but the Lakers are bigger than one person. They were a great franchise before James arrived and will remain great in the years after he retires. Pelinka is not without fault, but the days of James strong-arming whatever organization he plays for may be a thing of the past. Regardless, this bad team is going nowhere.
If the Lakers fail to go far in the NBA playoffs, that could result in massive changes this offseason.