LeBron James' tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers is a subject of controversy. Some point out that he's missed the playoff twice and was sent home in the first round, yet others claim the 2020 NBA championship makes it a blatant success.
Maybe the truth is something in between. But if we were to look at the facts, that ring two years ago is more of an outlier. The reality is that the Lakers haven't been a good team in the past four years, regardless of how great James has been.
That's why there's been speculation about his future with the franchise. And according to Shannon Sharpe, the only way James agrees to sign an extension is that Rob Pelinka makes some championship-winning moves.
NBA Rumors: LeBron James Won't Sign An Extension Unless Rob Pelinka Makes Some Moves
"When you get LeBron James, you know what the stakes are. ... ‘Look, you already wasted one of my years, you wasted one. I gave you a grace period ‘cause when I first signed here I didn’t say you had to make any other move. I played with what we had. You didn’t make any move.’ He played with the kids. ‘Hey, I’m done with that.’ This is the only leverage LeBron has," Sharpe said.
"I believe he will sign the contract only when he believes Rob Pelinka, only when he believes the Lakers have done their due diligence and everything they possibly can to make this a championship-contending team," Sharpe added. "I think, deep down inside, I don’t think LeBron believes this is a championship-contending team as is currently constructed.”
Nonetheless, we can't also ignore the fact that it was LeBron the one who urged Pelinka to trade for Russell Westbrook. Now, the Lakers can't find any takers for Westbrook and they refuse to include first-round picks in any potential deal.
So, one could say that James made his own bed in Los Angeles, albeit Pelinka had the final say in trading for Westbrook. But that's just that the way it goes in this business, so Lakers fans better hope their GM works some kind of magic and pulls off big moves with limited assets.
