LeBron James Fires Passive-Aggressive Jab at Lakers Front Office After Loss

It’s that time of the year again when LeBron James drops a passive-aggressive comment that spices up the NBA trade deadline.

Following the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102 loss to their crosstown rivals Clippers in their new home arena,  Intuit Dome, on Sunday, January 19, James took a jab at their front office when asked if there are ways internally how to make the margin for error smaller.

“Nah. That’s how our team is constructed,” James told reporters. “We don’t have room for error — for much error.”

James led six Lakers in double-figure scoring with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting. It’s hard to imagine that such a balanced scoring attack led to a non-competitive game for the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 26 against the Clippers.

The Lakers starters all registered negative plus-minus.

A follow-up question on James on how they could navigate the mental demands of having to play close to perfect basketball.

“We don’t have a choice,” he bluntly said. “That’s the way our team is constructed and we have to. We have to play close to perfect basketball. And we know the game is never perfect. It’s never gonna be a 48-minute perfect basketball game.

“But we can’t combat it on multiple possessions in a row or if we’re turning the ball over, we have to do a better job of that. If we’re making aggressive turnovers plays where we’re trying to make the right play to our teammates, but it’s some of the careless ones. Defensively, we can’t have breakdowns. If our coaching staff has a game plan for us, we can’t break down on the game plan.”

The Lakers committed 15 turnovers, which the Clippers cashed into 21 points. The Lakers were thoroughly outplayed in nearly every statistical department.

Lakers ‘Trending More Toward Smaller Trade’

The Lakers haven’t made a big swing since their ill-fated Russell Westbrook trade that cost them their 2027 first-round pick to get off of it.

They have only made smaller trades since then like their most recent move — acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith, who was scoreless against the Clippers in 22 minutes, and Shake Milton, who received a DNP, for D’Angelo Russell‘s expiring salary, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks.

It appears they will continue to operate that way, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

“My sense lately, that I’ve been hearing, has been trending more toward them making a smaller move and probably using second-round draft capital and the issue there is that their second-round draft capital isn’t really worth that much because it’s their pick and the Clippers’ pick and both of those picks are projected right now to be between like 45 and 52 depending on where those two teams finish in the standings so those aren’t the sexiest second-round picks,” Buha said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” following the Lakers’ 102-101 win over the Nets on Friday, January 17. “You typically want a first half of the second round-type pick.”

Lakers Reluctant to Trade Draft Capital

The Lakers have been reluctant to surrender their first-round draft capital unless “that leads to sustainable Lakers excellence,” Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka told reporters in September 2024.

“We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt that was the right thing to do,” he added.

The Lakers have only two unprotected first-round picks available in 2029 and 2031 but they can also add the protected portion (1-4) of their 2027 first-round pick owed to the Jazz in a potential big swing.

Until the Lakers make a big swing to surround James and Anthony Davis with more talent, expect these passive-aggressive comments to continue until the trade deadline arrives on February 6.