NBA Player Agents Frown At LeBron James Influence On Player Recruitment

At the rate they are performing now, any NBA player would love to be a Los Angeles Laker. Player agents are unsurprisingly pushing their players although they have to hurdle one major obstacle. He goes by the name of LeBron James.

Since joining the Lakers, pundits have always insinuated that any addition to the Lakers roster will require the approval of James. And it appears the trend continues to this day. And according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, player agents have taken exception to this.

The fact here is that this has been the belief of most even before James came to Hollywood. It was the same scenario when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The bottom line, if a player is not good with James, joining the team is close to nil.

Dan Feldman of NBC Sports bemoans this belief. Although Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka mentioned that he would consult James on roster moves last summer, the decision to add more pieces may not entirely be up to the three-time NBA champion. There are other things to consider such as team chemistry and needs.

Additionally, if this was the protocol, then the Lakers would have added some of James’ good buddies. At the top of the list is Carmelo Anthony who remained jobless until he was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers. Melo would have been a good fit for the Lakers especially since they needed firepower. However, there were questions on the 35-year-old’s capacity to contribute to the defensive end.

Now if James was the man to approve roster moves, Anthony would have easily been signed last summer. But the fact is nothing happened. The same scenario could have been applicable to Chris Paul. Since being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder by the Houston Rockets, the Lakers would have tried to make a play at the veteran guard. Nothing came close to materializing.

This is not to entirely relieve James of influencing the Lakers' decision on roster moves. He may be sought for his thoughts but these are only part of the decision-making process. In the end, it will still be management calling the shots for the benefit of the Los Angeles Lakers team as a whole.