The Lakers are the only team in the league yet to make moves in free agency and LeBron James and Anthony Davis have spoken honestly about it.

Last season’s LA team failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs and clearly needed a few more pieces to be deemed a legitimate contender.

LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, recently told ESPN that LeBron was willing to take less money so the Lakers could reach the midlevel exception and sign an “impact player.”

But the team missed out on Klay Thompson, James Harden, Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan and LeBron has addressed the situation.

“It takes two to tango,” LeBron told ESPN. “I think our front office, our coaching staff, they tried to do the job that they wanted to do or tried to get guys to come and it didn’t happen. And that’s OK. That’s part of the business. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that sometimes it happens, sometimes it don’t.

“So we don’t sit here and lie about or cry about it. We move on and Klay’s a great player. Obviously DeMar’s a great player. Valanciunas was one of those guys who ended up going to Washington, was someone that was in talks with us, but we move on to see how we continue to get better.

“I’m looking forward to this fall when I get back out there.”

It seems as though the Lakers are betting on Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent, who combined to play just 40 games in 2023-24, to be the difference-makers.

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“We don’t know what we could have been if we had those guys, especially in the playoffs,” Davis said. “You know especially Vando because he’s a big part of what we do defensively. But, so we look at the lineup, and you know we come in ready to work.

“And last year is last year. We can’t say ‘Oh this is the same team.’ It could be a different result. For us it’s about coming in with the mindset of getting to work and seeing how it plays out.”

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‘He Doesn’t Give a F*ck’: LeBron James Defends Bronny

POSTED ON JULY 7, 2024 BY NICK JUNGFER

LeBron James has issued a strong defence of his son, Bronny James, whose selection by the Lakers in last month’s NBA Draft was the subject of controversy.

Bronny averaged just 4.8 points and 2.1 assists per game during his lone college season with USC, before being drafted to his father’s NBA team.

However, LeBron says no one has a true grasp of Bronny and his situation.

“I don’t know if people really understand Bronny,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Sunday. “He doesn’t care. I actually care a little bit. When I came in [as a rookie], I wanted people to like me and some of the things that people were saying about me kind of bothered me early on in my career. … He doesn’t give a f—.

“He does not care about nobody. He doesn’t even listen to that stuff. He’s like the coolest. He’s like the complete opposite of his dad. His dad will say something [to address the critics]. Bro does not care. … Everything that’s being said about him, he really does not care.”

LeBron added that Bronny refused to let any of his success or fame change him as a person.

“Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super wealthy and you the kid still had the drive to want to be able to accomplish things for yourself,” LeBron said. “I personally don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that if the roles were reversed.

” … When I was coming up, I had no choice. I literally had no choice. … I had to make it out for me. My mom, my family, my hometown, my city. Bronny has all the choices in the world. If Bronny wants to stop right now or never played basketball or just wanted be a gamer or wanted to be a chef or wanted to be nothing to whatever, he could have done that.

” … People don’t understand how hard that is and the commitment for him to be coming out of heart surgery less than a year ago, for him to be able to be in the NBA, the kid, he’s special. But he doesn’t care. He doesn’t. It doesn’t bother him.”

Bronny, who will spend most of next season in the G League, played his first game in purple on gold on Saturday when he made his NBA Summer League debut in a 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings at the California Classic.

He finished with 4 points on 2-for-9 shooting, to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 22 minutes.

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Why Buddy Hield Chose Warriors Over Lakers

POSTED ON JULY 4, 2024 BY TRISTEN FLORES

The Lakers have been dealt yet another embarrassing blow in free agency, after Buddy Hield opted to sign with the Warriors instead of the purple and gold.

LA have been interested in signing a number of guards since free agency began, including Klay Thompson, who also brushed the Lakers to sign with the Mavericks.

So why did Hield also take the same tact?

“Hield chose the Warriors because of the opportunity to win, per league sources. His suitors included the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers,” The Athletic reports.

“After losing Thompson, the Warriors were in desperate search for a high-volume shooter who could open up the floor a bit more in some of their lineup combinations. That’s Hield’s specialty. Since 2017, the only player to make more 3-pointers than Hield is his new teammate, Steph Curry.”

Some are dubbing the new combination the Splash Buddies, in lieu of the Splash Brothers.

The Warriors made a deal with the 76ers for Hield, that guarantees him two years and $21 million.

“Hield will receive $18 million in the first two years and a $3 million partial guarantee for 2026-27 as well as a player option for a non-guaranteed fourth year,” ESPN reports.

Golden State is sending Philadelphia a 2031 second-round pick it received from Dallas in the Thompson sign-and-trade.

Before he turns his attention to winning with the Warriors though, Hield will be making a potential Olympics debut with the Bahamas’ national basketball team.

Though it is looking more and more likely that to make history, the Bahamas team will have to beat Spain in Spain in an Olympic qualifier.

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