{"id":146105,"date":"2026-01-23T09:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T09:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/146105\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T09:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T09:30:25","slug":"lakers-star-lebron-james-downplays-reported-rift-with-jeanie-buss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/146105\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers star LeBron James downplays reported rift with Jeanie Buss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LeBron James<\/a> downplayed any suggestion of a rift between him and Lakers<\/a> governor Jeanie Buss<\/a> on Thursday following an ESPN report <\/a>that detailed how the now-minority owner of the team had started to turn on the Lakers superstar.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite frankly, I don\u2019t really get involved in that, or the reports, or whatever the case may be,\u201d James said after the Lakers lost 112-104<\/a> to the Clippers<\/a> at Intuit Dome. <\/p>\n

The report detailed how years of in-fighting between the Buss siblings led to the family selling a majority stake of the team to Dodgers owner Mark Walter<\/a> last year. As the franchise struggled to recapture the magic established under Jerry Buss<\/a>, Jeanie had grown distant and resentful, the report said, that James didn\u2019t take accountability for involvement with the decision to acquire Russell Westbrook<\/a> in 2021. She reportedly floated the possibility of trading James to the Clippers in 2022 and didn\u2019t believe James was grateful when the Lakers drafted Bronny James in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Lakers star LeBron James responds to a report stating there is a rift between him and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss.<\/p>\n

But LeBron James brushed it off.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, when I came to this organization, my whole mindset was about restoring excellence,\u201d James said. \u201cThe things that I seen growing up with the Lakers \u2014 obviously, I didn\u2019t get an opportunity to watch Showtime [era], but I know the history. Then the early 2000s with Shaq [O\u2019Neal] and [Kobe Bryant], and then what Kob did and those couple runs with him and Pau [Gasol]. So my whole mindset was like, \u2018How can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization?\u2019 \u2026 And then I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16, other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 2020 championship \u2014 in James\u2019 second season with the team \u2014 helped the franchise tie rival Boston for the most championships in league history. But the Celtics have since pulled ahead with an 18th NBA title. <\/p>\n

The Lakers have won two playoff series in the five seasons since their last championship and have been eliminated in the first round in back-to-back seasons. They stunned the NBA by acquiring Luka Doncic in a midseason trade last season but are struggling to hang on in the competitive Western Conference. They have lost six of their last nine games.<\/p>\n

James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers (26-17) cut a 26-point third-quarter deficit to three points with 1:28 remaining when James converted a three-point play. But the Clippers, who have won 14 of their last 17 games starting with their last win over the Lakers on Dec. 20, answered with a reverse dunk by Ivica Zubac and a dagger three-pointer from John Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeBron, for what seems like the 20th straight game, just gave us \u2014 he emptied the tank and gave us everything he had,\u201d coach JJ Redick said.<\/p>\n

After he missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, James is averaging 22.5 points, six rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. Since guard Austin Reaves re-injured his calf on Christmas Day, James has averaged 24.9 points and played more than 31 minutes in each of the 12 games, including playing two back-to-backs in a week.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old James has achieved some of the most significant milestones of his career with the Lakers. He became the NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer in purple and gold. He is the first player to play 23 NBA seasons. Now in his eighth season with the Lakers, L.A. has been his continuous NBA home for longer than any other city, not counting the separate seven- and four-year stints he had in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

When he came to the Lakers, James told Buss that he wanted to return the Lakers to glory, he recalled while accepting the NBA Finals most valuable player award in 2020. Buss, standing nearby in the socially distant trophy ceremony, smiled and clutched her hands to her chest when James brought up her father. <\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers star LeBron James dunks over Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis on Jan. 9 at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

When asked Thursday of how he thought the partnership with Jeanie Buss has been, James said he thought \u201cit was good, but somebody could see it another way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s always two sides of the coin,\u201d James continued.<\/p>\n

The two have not talked since the report was published Wednesday, but that\u2019s not out of the ordinary, James attested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never talked,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. It\u2019s not like me and Jeanie be on the phone talking, guys. I never heard a report about that. Don\u2019t make something out of it that it\u2019s not. It\u2019s always been mutual, it\u2019s always been respect, it\u2019s always been a great partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LeBron <\/p>\n

LeBron James hugs Jeanie Buss after the Lakers\u2019 NBA championship win on Oct. 11, 2020.<\/p>\n

(Douglas P. DeFelice \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here two years, everybody in this organization appreciates LeBron and appreciates what he\u2019s done for the Lakers,\u201d Redick said before the game. \u201cHe\u2019s carried on the legacy and also truthfully the burden of being a superstar for the Los Angeles Lakers for eight years. And he\u2019s done it with class. And then personally, I can just speak to it: I\u2019ve enjoyed coaching him at the highest level, like 10 out of 10. That\u2019s not to say LeBron and I don\u2019t have our disagreements, but I know with that guy, he\u2019s gonna put everything into this and it\u2019s been awesome to coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

James picked up his $52.6 million player option this summer. It\u2019s the first time in his 23-year NBA career that he\u2019s played on the final year of a deal. He will be up for free agency this summer along with several other players, including guard Austin Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton.<\/p>\n

With the trade deadline approaching, James brushed off questions about what steps the Lakers can do to improve their roster. As he turned to walk out of the locker room, James pointed to his hoodie that was printed with the name of his wife Savannah\u2019s podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s crazy,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James downplayed any suggestion of a rift between him and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss on Thursday following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[72807,72806,11440,6665,72805,423,35682,38327,48,52,51,47400,1415,47,50,49,129,1417,278,427,72],"class_list":["post-146105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-back-to-back-season","tag-buss-sibling","tag-championship","tag-clippers","tag-espn-report","tag-game","tag-james","tag-jeanie-buss","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-laker-star-lebron-james","tag-lakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nba","tag-point","tag-season","tag-team","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}