LeBron James was left out of the loop on two major Los Angeles Lakers decisions in 2025: trading Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic and the $10 billion sale of the team.
The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly did not properly inform LeBron James about the two biggest decisions the franchise made in 2025.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne, the first instance came in early February, when the Lakers traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic.
James, who is close friends with Davis and shares the same agent (Rich Paul of Klutch Sports), was not given significant notice ahead of the deal.
“They did not give him significant notice that they were trading Davis for Doncic — a transgression James forgave, sources said, because of his respect for Doncic and understanding of the franchise’s reasoning for making the trade and keeping it under wraps for as long as possible,” Windhorst and Shelburne wrote.
The second surprise came on June 18, when the Buss family agreed to sell a majority stake in the LA Lakers to billionaire Mark Walter for $10 billion.
According to ESPN, Doncic was given a heads-up and even posted a congratulatory message on social media. James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, received no advance notice and made no public comment afterward.
Despite all this, James opted into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025–26 season, even though the Lakers did not offer him a contract extension.
ESPN insider Shams Charania reported that LeBron believes the Lakers are focusing more on the future than the present — a concern for the 40-year-old, who is still chasing championships.
“He feels clearly that the Lakers are more in a futuristic mindset,” Charania said on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “Where does that go? If one side feels like, ‘Listen, I wanna compete for a championship,’ the other side is just trying to compete for the future, but then that other side is like, ‘Well, we are trying to win a championship,’ like, where does that meet in the roads that we see?
Charania added that “hard conversations” are likely to happen in the coming months.
James has a no-trade clause and has been with the Lakers since 2018.
While the Cleveland Cavaliers — his first NBA team — would reportedly be interested in a reunion, that possibility is said to hinge on a potential buyout.
