{"id":3619,"date":"2025-07-18T18:27:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/lakers-sell-team-only-one-star-player-informed-first\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T18:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T22:27:29","slug":"lakers-sell-team-only-one-star-player-informed-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/lakers-sell-team-only-one-star-player-informed-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Sell Team, Only One Star Player Informed First!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nEditors\u2019 note, July 13 at 10:43 a.m. ET: ESPN has issued a correction to their report. “After the publication of this article, sources said James was notified of the sale, via his representation. But he did not post any public acknowledgement.”<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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\nRecent insights from ESPN have shed light on the internal dynamics within the Los Angeles Lakers following the trade involving Luka Doncic.\n<\/p>\n

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\nAccording to journalists Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst, the Lakers organization has been discreetly indicating a change in the team\u2019s leadership from LeBron James to Doncic since the high-profile trade in February. The report points out several indications of this shift, including Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka\u2019s immediate efforts to secure a true center post-trade\u2014a long-standing request by James\u2014and James not being offered a contract extension.\n<\/p>\n

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\nWhat might be most telling, however, is the communication between the Lakers and their top players before the team\u2019s sale to Mark Walter last month.\n<\/p>\n

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\nShelburne and Windhorst wrote:\n<\/p>\n

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\n“When the Buss family agreed to sell a majority stake in the franchise to Mark Walter on June 18, Doncic was given a heads-up and notably posted a congratulations on social media afterward. James was not given the same notice and did not post any public acknowledgement afterward.”<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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\nThe decision to inform Doncic but not James could be seen as either a coincidence or a deliberate act.\n<\/p>\n

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\nAdditionally, Shelburne and Windhorst report that certain Lakers officials, including Pelinka and coach JJ Redick, had a strategic dinner meeting with Doncic and his manager in May to discuss team strategies and future objectives. It remains unclear whether James was invited to this meeting.\n<\/p>\n

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\nThese new pieces of information suggest the Lakers are gradually moving away from James and preparing Doncic to be the new cornerstone of the team. If Los Angeles isn’t big enough for two superstars, it seems the Lakers are choosing to focus on their younger star over the veteran James, who may be nearing the end of his tenure with the team.\n<\/p>\n

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\nMore NBA Coverage on Sports Illustrated
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\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":3620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"schema_org_data":"","_extracted_celebrities":"","_extracted_movies":"","_extracted_places":"","_extracted_videos":"","_last_enrichment_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\nLakers Sell Team, Only One Star Player Informed First!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/lakers-sell-team-only-one-star-player-informed-first\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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