LeBron James has to give his approval before the Lakers can finalize a hiring decision, according to rumors, suggesting too that the setup has been a sore point with agents and players alike. If true, however, it is not surprising that King James is given some power wherever he holds court.
James, after all, wins games and lead the club he belongs to Finals appearances, and in many cases, he wins championships as well. In other words, he is a certified winner so "the Lakers are exceptionally deep behind LeBron," according to Yahoo Sports.
It was the same case with Anthony Davis, the report added. Or for that matter, many NBA teams treated their top players with the utmost respect that their opinion matters when it comes to roster questions.
And it's not like that the privilege James enjoys, and others who have the same clout, was given out of thin air. He certainly earned it, which exactly is the case with the Lakers, per the same report.
"LeBron is the most important person in the Lakers organization for their championship hopes. He's also a basketball genius. Of course, he should have major say in filling the roster," the report said.
It's safe to say, James has yet to abuse the power given to him and that was manifested when rumors swirled around in the summer that Carmelo Anthony might be joining the Lakers. Supposedly, it would happen at the behest of James, who is a close pal of Anthony.
In a report, NBC Sports said James might have tried to pull some strings so his team would least take a look at the possibility of Anthony joining up. It seemed though that James didn't push too hard because his friend ended up with the Trailblazers and his stay so far is proving fruitful.
To be fair with Anthony, he made it a point not to use friendship just to win a spot on a team.
"I would never put business along with friendships. I would never do that. I would never reach out to a friend and say, 'I need this. Can you do this for me?' ... I got close friends on a lot of teams that I would never reach out to for a favor. It's just not who I am," NBC reported Anthony as saying.
The Anthony case proved that to some extent, James would help out a friend in need but at the same time, he's ready to draw the line that will separate business matters and personal relationships. He might have suggested the upsides of having Anthony around but James allowed the decision to be made the Lakers' front office.
It helped too that Anthony knew how to operate between personal and professional realms, and it made things easier for him and James.
