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LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, is downplaying the bombshell report that Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss has grown tired of his client.
ESPN cited team sources when it reported that Buss had privately complained about James’ “outsized ego” and the “obvious control” the NBA’s leading scorer, Paul and Klutch Sports Group, has over the organization.
The report also stated that Buss believed James has lacked accountability since he has been with the team, which includes deflecting blame following the team’s failed trade for Russell Westbrook prior to the 2021-22 season.
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Rich Paul talks with LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Crypto.com Arena on January 4, 2026 in Los Angeles. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Paul responded during his podcast, “Game Over With Max Kellerman and Rich Paul,” downplaying the report.
“An article is written every day,” he told Kellerman. “Who gives a s—? I don’t.
“When these types of articles come out, people want to take clickbait. You’re going to see things floating around and floating around and floating around. And that goes back to why I created the whole thing about being unbothered.
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“You’ve got to be unfazed by this type of thing. I am. It’s like, whatever.”
However, one decision the Lakers made in 2024 that created controversy was their selection of James’ son, Bronny, in the NBA Draft. Despite struggles in his lone year at USC — largely because he was recovering from a cardiac arrest — the Lakers selected James with the 55th overall pick.
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss attends media day at the UCLA Health and Training Center in El Segundo, California on September 28, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)
Speculation has been that James had an influence on the selection, and ESPN’s reporting seemed to confirm that.
“And when the Lakers drafted James’ son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt he wasn’t,” the ESPN report read. “That summer, when discussing a new contract for James, Jeanie seemed more resigned to the fact that they had to do it – almost grudgingly accepting that they would suffer a massive PR blow by not doing it.”
When Jerry Buss died in 2013, the Lakers passed to his children, and Jeanie has served as the team’s governor ever since. She has continued to oversee day-to-day operations, and reports say she will remain governor for another five years.
Rich Paul attends a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on November 18, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
The Lakers won 11 of their 17 championships under Buss’ ownership, with their last in 2020. However, it is their only title since Jerry Buss’ death.
James joined the Lakers in free agency in 2018, where he helped lead the team to the 2020 title.
