“Moving James at least crossed Buss’ mind” – Jeanie Buss thought about trading LeBron James after she was furious with Rich Paul for false leaks to the media originally appeared on Basketball Network.
It was only just past midseason, but the honeymoon was over.
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LeBron James had arrived in Los Angeles to glitz and glamour — fresh off a historic chokehold on the Eastern Conference to the tune of eight straight NBA Finals appearances — but the Los Angeles Lakers were crumbling beneath the weight of expectations.
A 20–14 start had faded into a nosedive — 6-15 following Christmas — with James sidelined by a groin injury and team chemistry reduced to rubble. The franchise’s playoff hopes were vanishing.
Contemplating the unthinkable
Jeff Van Gundy, then an announcer for the NBA on ESPN, may have given some clout to the unimaginable, but it turns out the Lakers had already considered something massive on the table.
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“The subject of moving James, however, was contemplated by the Lakers,” Ric Bucher reported for Bleacher Report in 2019, “Weeks before Van Gundy aired it.”
Van Gundy had casually floated the idea of trading the 34-year-old James on national television in early March. The suggestion was mostly dismissed — until Bucher revealed that the thought had actually crossed Lakers governor Jeanie Buss’ mind.
According to Bucher, “The idea of terminating the franchise’s relationship with Paul by moving James at least crossed Buss’ mind… and Paul was made aware of that.”
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This wasn’t public posturing. It came from a place of genuine fury.
The storm of rumors at the trade deadline that February, suggesting the Lakers were willing to move every player not named James to acquire All-Star forward Anthony Davis from New Orleans was what triggered Buss. The source of the leaks, many believed, was James’ agent, Rich Paul, who also happened to represent Davis. Paul denied leaking the information. But Buss didn’t buy it.
She was “furious,” per Bucher’s report, suspecting Paul had orchestrated a pressure campaign that fractured her locker room and left young players like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma unsure if they were wanted. The Lakers had built around youth — and in a matter of weeks, their trust had dissolved.
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The organization’s most important partnership — between Buss and James — was under threat, just months into the experiment.
A relationship nearly lost
The tension had left a scar. The 2018–19 Lakers finished 37–45, missed the playoffs and fired head coach Luke Walton.
And then the most bizarre unraveling happened when Magic Johnson, who had a major hand in recruiting James to Los Angeles the previous summer, abruptly stepped down as president of basketball operations before the season finale. The Davis trade didn’t materialize until July, after months of upheaval.
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Bucher’s report clarified just how close the Lakers came to fracturing their entire future. Moving James was a flash of instinct, a gut-level response to internal betrayal.
And while that moment passed, it reflected just how volatile the first year of LeBron’s Lakers tenure had become.
In the end, they didn’t move James. They traded the kids. They got Davis. They won a title in 2020, in a season James, at 35, finished second in the MVP voting and put all questions about age to rest.
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But that February — in a year marred by injuries, front-office dysfunction, and whispered agendas — the foundation nearly cracked before it could ever be built.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 2, 2025, where it first appeared.