LeBron James disputes report about why he came to Lakers

Apr 4, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts to being called for a foul against the Utah Jazz in the last minute of the fourth quarter at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James is calling “cap” on a recent report about him.

The Los Angeles Lakers star James was the subject of an interesting claim this week in a report by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Shelburne said that “part of the reason” James came to the Lakers in 2018 was because he was impressed by how the team treated the late Kobe Bryant during the final seasons of Bryant’s career.

James openly disputed that notion in a post to his X page on Saturday.

“I came to the Lakers cause I wanted to help [Lakers owner] Jeanie [Buss] win championships, bring that Spark back to the Lakers and see my family blossom in SoCal,” he wrote (along with a cap emoji). “Why would I make a decision on how someone else is treated. Mama always said ‘Stay out of grown folks business’.”

. I came to the Lakers cause I wanted to help Jeanie win championships, bring that Spark back to the Lakers and see my family blossom in SoCal. Why would I make a decision on how someone else is treated. Mama always said “Stay out of grown folks business”. https://t.co/FsvTi5HqMU

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 5, 2024

Though the report did claim that James was only partly motivated by the Lakers’ positive treatment of Bryant, that reason indeed does not make a whole lot of sense. A player will always put their own interests first in the decision of joining a new team rather than considering another person’s experience with the team.

Of course, there may have been some other reasons why James decided to come to L.A., including to pursue Hollywood projects (which is a criticism that James does not particularly like). But the Lakers’ treatment of Bryant, a homegrown icon with a totally different set of circumstances from James, was probably not one of them.