The Lakers have always been a star-driven franchise, and the brightest of them wield power. Magic Johnson got a coach fired and is rumored to have pushed for the Norm Nixon trade. The Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal so they could keep franchise icon Kobe Bryant, and threw him a massive contract while he was still rehabbing his Achilles.
However, LeBron James may wield more power than any of them, as evidenced by his push for the Russell Westbrook trade. That has proven to be a disaster, and now LeBron is frustrated the Lakers didn’t throw good money after bad — or, in this case, trade a first-round pick after bad — to trade Westbrook for the marginal-at-best upgrade to John Wall.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka wisely stood his ground, keeping his powder dry (and his draft pick) to take a shot at overhauling the roster this offseason. LeBron didn’t like it, and it led to a series of passive-aggressive comments — including the threat of returning to Cleveland, who may or may not want…