Player empowerment heavily defined the late 2000s-early 2010s era of the NBA. Every team from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Cleveland Cavaliers was at the mercy of disgruntled stars who felt their organizations weren’t doing enough to help them inch closer to the Larry O’Brien trophy.

LeBron James was one of the most popular poster boys of this movement. From The Decision to urging his front office to trade for impact players, King James used his on-court influence to move his teams toward the directions he felt would best improve his chances at a championship.
LeBron’s fingerprints have become so visible on how his teams operate that LeGM memes have become rampant throughout the digital NBA landscape.
His presence could still be felt in how the Lakers currently operate. The Purple and Gold are actively looking for a third star due to LeBron and AD’s demands, and everyone knows that Bronny got picked at 55 due to his dad.
Since everyone knows LeBron James is effectively running the show in Laker Land, one popular sports media personality openly questioned whether it was right to give one player such control over a franchise.
Bill Simmons questioned why LeBron James is running the Los Angeles Lakers from the shadows

When LeBron James announced that he would be taking a paycut to accommodate more capable players into the team, Bill Simmons immediately gave his two cents on the matter.
The popular podcaster and sports media personality has never been shy with expressing his opinions, and he openly questioned why the Lakers allowed the forward to run the show.
“My point is, why do we have to pretend he’s not running the Lakers? Like how long do we have to do this? How long? Give us a date. By the way, he should run the Lakers. I thought they should have hired Maverick Carter as the coach and then LeBron could have just told him what to do.”
The blunt callout from may have been rough, but he does make a point many people have been saying over the years. LeBron James has become such a generational player that he can directly influence how organizations run their teams. The fact that he still has this much pull despite approaching 40 is an incredible feat in and of itself.
Of course, Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers front office will maintain that they have control over what James does. However, almost everyone can tell how things are behind the scenes.

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