LeBron James could be on a different team than the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022-23 if Hall of Famer Phil Jackson has his way.
According to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, the former Los Angeles Lakers head coach would like to see LeBron James traded from the team. He also mentioned that Jackson would like for the Lakers to keep Russell Westbrook and “try to make it work with him.”
“I’ve heard that Phil would like LeBron traded. I’ve just heard that, but I’ve got nothing to back that up. No on the record stuff to back that up. I do know that Phil would like to keep Westbrook and make it work with him.”
It has been previously reported Jackson is “significantly involved” in Los Angeles’ search for its next head coach after it fired Frank Vogel.
The Lakers were easily the most disappointing team last season as they poured in a 33-49 record, which wasn’t even good enough to qualify for the play-in tournament. The roster had future Hall of Famers in James, Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, but they could never find an identity on offense or defense. Combine that with a rash of injuries to Anthony davis and LeBron and this team never had a chance.
Westbrook did not fit alongside James because both are so ball-dominant, and the point guard made things hell on the offensive side because of his poor shooting.
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Jackson and James don’t have the best relationship as the Lakers star told reporters in 2016 that he lost respect for Jackson when the then-president of the New York Knicks called his business associates a “posse.”
James had perhaps the greatest 37-year-old season in league history when he averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in his most recent campaign.
