76ers' LeBron James was irritated to 'defer' to Lakers' Austin Reaves, causing internal conflicts

The Los Angeles Lakers will be entering a new era with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves serving as the faces of the franchise. LA has also made several offseason additions that make this team very interesting heading into the new season.

However, this will be the Lakers’ first season without LeBron James in a long time. Many believe his connection with the Lakers began to decline when the organization started breaking apart the 2020 championship team.

“There was more of a disconnect between James and the organization, sources said, one that started during the doomed 2021-22 season following the Russell Westbrook trade and never fully recovered. Ultimately, James recognized the Lakers were in a different phase with their franchise and chose to prioritize his basketball happiness, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania, in finding his next situation," ESPN's Dave McMenamin wrote.

It was interesting to watch LA slowly take that team apart piece by piece. Last season, James was the third option for the first time in his career. According to The Athletic’s Law Murray, it did not sit well with James and created some tension behind the scenes.

“Covering LeBron James last season, he had an internal conflict going on with how much he had to defer to Austin Reaves (even Bron understood that Luka was the top dawg in any circumstance),” Murray wrote.

It is somewhat surprising that this information has come out as late as it has. The last time Austin Reaves spoke about James, it was nothing but love.

“I don’t know if I’ve honestly processed it yet. … Starting a season without him on the team is going to be different for me. That’s kind of all I’ve ever known … Got nothing but love and respect for him,” Reaves said.

It is clear that James still believes he should be a valuable part of an offense, which is likely why he will be the primary ball handler for Philadelphia this season. However, this internal conflict adds another layer to the reports that James was not completely happy behind the scenes in Los Angeles.

The four-time NBA champion was fine with being the No. 2 option, but he was not comfortable having to defer to Reaves more than himself. The 76ers know that with James coming in, he still wants to be a major part of the offense.

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