EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — LeBron James says he will have his hands free when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason decision-making process emerging from one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.
“It’s not my decision,” James said in a news conference Monday ahead of the team’s exit interviews. “It’s not my choice to sit here and say, ‘Well, we should bring that back and put that on the list.’ That would be the decision of the front office. And of course they may ask for my input, but at the end of the day they will make the decision that they feel best fits this franchise.”
Since joining the Lakers in the summer of 2018, basketball operations vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka has referred to James as a “stakeholder,” allowing the star greater influence over personnel decisions than the typical player. leadership relationship.
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However, after James and Anthony Davis’ contribution caused LA to rework their roster to trade for Russell Westbrook, only to see the team finish only 33-49 and not even qualify for the play-in tournament, there seems to be a change of strategy.
“I think the front office will do whatever it takes to help this ball club become a better ball club from top to bottom,” said James. “Ask me for my opinion, I will give my opinion. But at the end of the day, they will make the decision that they feel is best for the franchise.”
James was the first of 14 players scheduled to speak to reporters on Monday. Pelinka and Lakers coach Frank Vogel were not on the interview list. The Lakers officially fired Vogel shortly after James met with reporters.
Prior to the announcement, James backed the coach he had partnered with to win a league in 2020.
“I respect Frank as a coach and as a man,” said James. “At the end of the day, I don’t know what’s going to happen when he and Frank are here, but I have nothing but respect for him.”
James also supported Westbrook but didn’t say he planned to bring the same core group back to LA next season.
“One thing about Russ that I love and always will love is just the competitive spirit that he brings to the game every night,” said James. “And when you’re in a profession where so many injuries happen and so many things happen, and to have a man who’s reliable and can put on a uniform every night, I respect that… I’m not going to sit here and make decisions.” for the front office and things like that, but I love being a teammate with Russ.”
After playing just 56 games due to various injuries, James said he needed the offseason to heal. He said an MRI on Friday of his left ankle sprain, which caused him to sit out seven of LA’s last eight games, revealed he won’t need surgery or any type of injection to start the recovery process to support. However, he will need another four to six weeks of rest for his ankle before he can start off-season training.
“If we were the team I hoped and wanted, I shouldn’t have played in that game in New Orleans after the injury,” James said of his ankle. “I kind of made it worse. But I wanted to see if we could make a late push.”
James, who is approaching his 20th season and turns 38 in December, said he remains eager to make a late career push to add another championship to his resume. He pushed back a characterization that his decision to join the Lakers was far from a success.
“I came here to win a championship. And I want to win more. So I’ve achieved what I set out to achieve, but I’m still hungry for more,” said James. “I am confident that this organization wants the same. That’s what this organization has always been about. … So that’s what I did. We did. But I want to do it again.”
While James said in February that “this is a franchise I see myself in in the future,” he didn’t discuss the two-year, $97.1 million contract extension he may sign with the Lakers in August.
“Technically it can’t be discussed until later in the year due to the collective bargaining agreement,” James said. “Well, we’re getting to that point, we’ll see.”
James, who finished the season averaging 30.3 points but didn’t qualify for the league title because he needed to play at least two more games to qualify, said he has no intention of playing those games after LA was eliminated from the playoff race.
“Once we were out of the playoffs, there was nothing left to talk about, nothing left to think about,” James said. “I’m not going to be out there just playing meaningless games to try and win the scoring title. That’s below me and where I am in my career. … For me, I’ve been at it for 19 years and going after a title win and not making it into the postseason is the craziest thing ever.”