Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James reportedly wasn’t happy with a decision general manager Rob Pelinka made after a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in late March.
The Lakers knocked off the Cavs 127-113 on March 31, giving James the 1,229th win of his career, which pushed him past the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most victories by a player in NBA history (regular season and playoffs). In addition to that, fellow Lakers Rui Hachimura and Luka Doncic also completed major milestones in that game.
Doncic cleared the 15,000-point mark for his career while Hachimura reached the 5,000-point mark in the win. Despite that, what Pelinka did in the locker room after the game was another instance of James feeling like the franchise was taking him for granted, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“Lakers coach JJ Redick had announced all the individual accomplishments in the postgame locker room, eliciting a cascading round of applause by L.A. players and assistant coaches,” McMenamin wrote.
“And then Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, addressed the team. He had the game ball in his hands.
“Rather than hand it to Hachimura or Doncic or James, Pelinka walked to the front of the room and presented the ball to Redick, who had just presided over his 100th coaching win.
“James has a ‘great’ relationship with Redick, sources close to him say — with one telling ESPN that Redick’s hiring is ‘one thing the Lakers got right.’
“But James, who played the past eight seasons in Los Angeles and helped deliver the franchise its 17th championship in 2020, saw Pelinka’s priority in that moment as yet another example of the Lakers taking him for granted, sources said.
“Adding to James’ ire, sources said, was the fact that the past dozen or so wins in that stretch came with James willingly taking a supporting offensive role behind Doncic and Austin Reaves.”
One source added some more context, per ESPN.
“And so — without even stopping to change clothes — James marched off into the L.A. night, simmering from another perceived indignation delivered by the organization that, as one source close to him told ESPN, tried to ‘push him out the door,’ after acquiring Doncic last season,” McMenamin wrote.
Now, James is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, putting his Lakers future in question. There’s also a chance that the 41-year-old will retire, as he’s already played 23 NBA seasons and hasn’t committed to coming back in the 2026-27 campaign.
The Lakers ended up earning the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference in the 2025-26 season, even though Doncic and Reaves missed the end of the regular season with injuries. Doncic then missed L.A.’s entire playoff run while Reaves missed the first four games of the first round against the Houston Rockets.
Still, James led L.A. to a 3-0 series lead against Houston and was the team’s best player during its playoff run. He finished the regular season averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, but those numbers rose to 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the playoffs. L.A. won its series against Houston before losing in the second round.
There’s no doubt that James can be an impact player for the Lakers if he decides to return next season, but it’s possible that he’ll look for a fresh start due to some of his frustrations with the franchise.
The Lakers clearly need to do everything they can to build a contender around Doncic while he’s still in his prime, and it’s hard to argue that there are better options than James – who was an All-Star again in the 2025-26 season – available in the offseason.
