LeBron James Knew About Jeanie Buss’ Frustration as Insiders Reveal Unsettling Details

Baxter Holmes’ story on the Los Angeles Lakers had two parts. First, the Buss family drama, which most readers didn’t care about. Simply because the audience knew most of it. Second, Jeanie Buss’s true feelings about LeBron James. Well, this stirred too many pots in the NBA world. Bron said he doesn’t care about the article. But what if the story doesn’t concern him because he already knew about it?

Insider Sam Amick said on Run It Back, “I tend to think that he knew all this already. Does it change when it’s louder? Maybe. It’s an annoyance. It’s an irritation.” Amick went through the LeBron James-Jeanie Buss segment of Holmes’ story several times; he has also written about it. Therefore, he describes it “like a marriage of convenience between him (James) and the Lakers.”

Amick further explained that Bron loves Los Angeles for its market and family-friendly atmosphere, and that he has already fulfilled his core goal by winning the 2020 title. While he still wants to compete for championships, that success created a quiet sense of completion. By last summer, contract decisions exposed the tension and made it clear that LeBron and the Lakers were no longer fully aligned.

“When you don’t offer a guy who’s in the conversation for greatest player of all time any sort of extension, he had the option,” the NBA insider stated. “They basically waited to see, if you want to pick up the option. They didn’t offer anything contract-wise. That told you everything you needed to know. It was Luka’s team now, and they were not interested in retaining LeBron’s $50 million salary slot.”

Last year, the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic, keeping in mind a future without LeBron James. Doncic isn’t the immediate plan or a solution to LA’s championship drought. He is the foundation of the upcoming days, a 6-7-year plan. Bron won’t be around the league at that time. Therefore, the Lakers’ front office handed Doncic a 3-year $165 million contract extension. Meanwhile, James settled for a $52.6 million without an extension.

For the first time in his tenure with LA, James is playing on an expiring contract. He will be a free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season. And after that?

LeBron James has three options for the future

“The reality is we’re watching the end of a relationship between LeBron James and the Lakers… The end is near, however you wanna slice it,” Shams Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show. Now, Charania’s opinion doesn’t clarify which end is near, LeBron James’ exit from the Lakers organization or his retirement. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested three options to James.

First, James can stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, protected by his no-trade clause, but only by accepting a reduced salary. Second, James can explore a move to another NBA team, a scenario the insider labeled as intriguing league-wide. Third, LeBron James can walk away entirely through retirement. The paths feel limited, direct, and unavoidable.

Across the NBA, executives expect no return to James’ previous salary level. Los Angeles continues reshaping its books around Luka Doncic, a shift that is obvious and intentional. Windhorst estimated a 33% chance James accepts less money to stay, while acknowledging the roster projects short of contention next season.

Well, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers drifted here over time, not overnight. Voices in the NBA believe the 41-year-old knew everything. Yet he chose to stay. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic symbolizes tomorrow for LA, while James represents legacy. Therefore, every option carries weight. Stay, shift, or step away.