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There appears to be some serious drama in LakerLand involving LeBron James.
On Sunday, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus revealed tension between LeBron’s representatives Klutch Sports and Lakers front office because GM Rob Pelinka refused to trade Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick for John Wall.
Latest @BleacherReport Lakers Need to Figure out Their LeBron James Problem Sooner Than You Think https://t.co/AKxc0ISLeT
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) February 20, 2022
Via Bleacher Report
In the context of the Lakers’ drama this season, James’ praise of Presti could be seen as a passive-aggressive swipe at Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka.
According to multiple NBA sources, Klutch is not happy with Pelinka. The sentiment has long percolated, but it reached a boil when Pelinka refused to trade Westbrook and a future first-round pick (likely 2027) for Houston Rockets guard and Klutch client John Wall.
Fans had some interesting reactions to the latest LeBron/Klutch Sports/Lakers drama.
Klutch wanted Westbrook and now upset that Rob Pelinka was unwilling to compound the problem by making a poor trade? Lol cmon
— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) February 20, 2022
Klutch thinks they own the Lakers franchise? They’ll soon disappear when Lebron’s not playing anymore. https://t.co/nuxD5QMLSC
— E ☀️ (@DubMnE) February 20, 2022
LeBron forced Pelinka to trade half of the Lakers roster for Russell Westbrook. Now, LeBron and Klutch tried to force Pelinka to trade Westbrook AND a 1st for a washed up John Wall.
LeGM is the WORST GM in the NBA.
— Joel Moran (@joelvmoran) February 20, 2022
The fact that Adam Silver has not cracked down on the massive conflict of interest and tampering organization that is Klutch Sports is insane.
It’s a mechanism which provides LeBron James with near-direct GM privileges, which he’s been using for years. pic.twitter.com/Fk1OUr3z1Q
— Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) February 20, 2022
This is exactly why Klutch should not have been allowed in the NBA. Huge conflict of interest for other players and general managers when LeBron is involved. https://t.co/RJ8L8Retfh
— The Commonest Man in Festo (@hottakeharry) February 20, 2022