“LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all”. These words by LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, have been haunting the Lakers franchise and its fans for the last few days. After taking his $52.6 million contract extension with the Lakers, LeBron James made it clear that he might not continue with the Lakers if they do not build him a squad that has the potential to compete for the championship. With this shocking decision, and Austin Reaves declining a $89.2 million extension, one has to ask: What is going on? Well, a recent update seems to highlight a reason, along with adding gasoline to the already blazing fire!

‘Spurs Reporter’, aka Dusty Garza, recently made a major revelation on X. According to him, reports are now emerging, from sources like John Gambadoro, that both LeBron James and Austin Reaves “don’t enjoy playing with Luka Doncic”! Yes, the top 3 players of the Lakers’ offense don’t get along! Gambadaro made this surprising revelation by reporting that “LeBron does not like playing with Luka, Reaves does not like playing with Luka. Reaves does not like getting the ball with two seconds left on the shot clock … The Lakers are going to turn their attention to build around Luka. Not LeBron, so this is Luka’s team now”.

No fan would have sensed that things were bad while the regular season was still going on. After all, the trio of Luka, LeBron, and Austin together helped the team finish with a 50-32 win record. By April, LeBron James had grown fond of the bond he shared with the other two players. In his own words, “I think the reason I’m able to thrive with both Luka and Austin is because of the way we complement each other. With Luka, his vision and his ability to make the game easier for others is something I’ve always appreciated”.

Even Lakers GM Rob Pelinka knows how valuable this trio is. When asked if Pelinka would trade Reaves, he said, “The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luca Doncic is at an all-time high still. I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”

With the recent revelation, you can say that the ‘incredible promise playing together’ line has not aged well.

Being a starter in one of the best championship-contending teams in the NBA, Austin Reaves would certainly want more minutes and a chance to score. With Luka Doncic currently being prioritized as the next face of the Lakers, the attention is getting away from the 27-year-old. Meanwhile, it was already speculated that tensions between Luka and LeBron were growing over the last few days. After all, LeBron’s recent urgency to win more titles means that he wants the team to focus more on Short-term stars that could deliver him a win now. However, as ‘The Athletic’s Dan Woike highlighted, the Lakers are preparing to make a run at a superstar to pair with Luka Doncic at least by next summer. They reportedly do not want to make any moves now that could jeopardize this potential acquisition. The future of two-star players is clashing, leading to this turmoil internally.

One has to applaud the sources that John Gambadoro has. After all, even a week-and-a-half ago, Austin Reaves was not willing to drop any hints of a rift between him and Luka Doncic.

Austin Reaves claimed his and Luka Doncic’s partnership brought “chaos offensively”

Back in June, Austin Reaves gave an interview to ‘Lakers Nation’ reporter Trevor Lane. During the same time, the 27-year-old was in all praise of the Slovenian. He discussed their on-court partnership by stating, “I think it brings so much chaos offensively because you got two guys, you know obviously I’m not putting myself in Luka’s category because he’s top three player in the NBA. But it brings two guys in the 1-2 spot, then obviously you have Bron too, that are willing passers, that can create chaos on defense. So therefore, I think it’s gonna be tough for teams to stay in front of us, I feel like we can get good looks every possession”.

Reaves’s praise didn’t just extend to discussing the offense. According to him, the Lakers had a “top five defense” right after the trade. The shooting guard wanted to build on that, which led him to state that “we just have to continue to grow in our schemes and how we wanna do that and be smart with all that.”

Well, that belief about “be smart” seems to have gone out the window now. From what John Gambadoro highlighted, the duo have almost become Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall. Luka Doncic previously appreciated Austin Reaves taking up a smaller role by stating, “That’s a guy you want on your team”. Now, that same thing has created an additional issue for the Lakers’ front office to resolve. With so much chaos unfolding within the franchise, one can only wonder how it will all end.

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