However, James’ relentless pursuit of titles has led some to believe that he controls the moves the teams he plays for makes. The narrative has been around for a while, but Paul took the time to address them directly, via The Rich Eisen Show: “And that’s false. I can say that because I’m there and when you think about that and that narrative people don’t think about the impact that that has off the court. It hurts friendships, guys that play on teams because they feel like, ‘Hey, I may have been traded and it’s because you wanted me out of here.’ And I know that it’s not to be true. Clearly he don’t run the team because there’s things that transpired that he didn’t even know about, so how is he running the team? The [Russell] Westbrook trade. He didn’t make that trade, contrary to what people try to put out there. He did not make that trade and I know that for a fact.” -via Lakers Nation / May 24, 2025
