Rich Paul Dismisses ESPN Report on Jeanie Buss’ Unhappiness With LeBron James-Klutch Sports Power Play

Rich Paul and LeBron James' alleged power play with Jeanie Buss and the Los Angeles Lakers became the subject of an ESPN article.

Rich Paul Dismisses ESPN Report on Jeanie Buss’ Unhappiness With LeBron James-Klutch Sports Power Play

Rich Paul, LeBron James, and Jeanie Buss (Image via FirstSportz)

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The sports world exploded earlier this week when ESPN released an article citing Lakers owner Jeanie Buss‘ apparent unhappiness with LeBron James and Rich Paul and their perceived power play.

The article, written by Baxter Holmes, provided insight into how family infighting prompted the Lakers’ governor to seek a deal, which ultimately led to the $10 billion valuation-based sale to Mark Walter.

Holmes also detailed how she was not happy when the King’s ‘outsized ego’ and the control Klutch Sports exerted on her franchise to the extent that they were being labeled as the ‘saviors’ of the Lakers.

There’s an article written every day… I’m just saying that you don’t know if any of this stuff is true… When you have the level of guys I have, that relationship a lot of times becomes a partnership. There’s people that are very envious of that partnership… There’s nothing to talk about there.

Rich Paul said on the Game Over Podcast

This was the Klutch Sports CEO’s response when he and co-host Max Kellerman brought up the topic. With this answer, Paul is essentially dismissing whatever was written in that article.

He believes this is an attempt by those who were envious of the success the Lakers, LeBron James, and his other players have brought to the team.

The 45-year-old believes that the relationship he, his clients, and the organization have shared is unlike what is mentioned in the article, and their success has proved it to be otherwise.

Max Kellerman and Rich Paul detail how ESPN article got it wrong

As Rich Paul continued to discuss how the ESPN article does not know the inside truth about what transpired within the Los Angeles Lakers, he detailed that the success so far has proved that the reporter got it wrong.

LeBron James and Jeanie Buss after the 2020 championship
LeBron James and Jeanie Buss after the 2020 championship (Image via FTW/X)

He cited the Anthony Davis–Luka Doncic trade as a prime example of how Klutch Sports and LeBron James truly do not have the power as claimed by Baxter Holmes. To this, Max Kellerman said this:

In retrospect, the Lakers, who were not gonna sniff a championship,… they got a championship out of LeBron’s situation.

Max Kellerman said

The analyst and radio host felt that the ESPN article does not seem to take into account that when the result of this apparent power play ended with a championship and years of continued playoff appearances, it is actually a success.

Kellerman revealed that back before James came to the Lakers, he had asked the franchise to give Paul the power to do whatever was needed to bring the 4-time league MVP. Otherwise, the organization would have continued to struggle.

Gilbert Arenas thinks Jeanie Buss’ brothers created Lakers drama

As Rich Paul and Max Kellerman gave out facts to counter the article written by Baxter Holmes, it was natural that other podcasts would discuss the drama it created.

This should have been an episode of dateline. Y’all trying to sell?!

Gilbert Arenas said on Gil’s Arena

The former All-Star said this while discussing with his fellow co-panelists that the premise of this article seems to scream that it was something created by Jeanie Buss’ brothers.

They joked around about how the Lakers’ governor firing her brothers from their respective positions fueled this, as the details in the article would not come out from the 64-year-old’s tight-knit circle, even if they were true.

The former players joked that the ousted brothers, Jim, Joey, and Jesse Buss, wanted payback after their sister removed them from their positions of power, so that she could have it all.

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