LeBron James, Anthony Davis’ complaints frustrated Lakers ownership

The Los Angeles Lakers finally made the blockbuster trade they had been rumored to be looking into for years early on Sunday morning when they sent a package built around Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a package led by Luka Doncic. And according to recent reports, LeBron James and Davis’ continued complaints about Los Angeles’ lack of trade movement may have fueled the team’s ownership to make this deal.

Over the past couple of seasons, with the Lakers struggling to emerge as a true Finals contender, their two best players in James and Davis pleaded with the team to swing some deals to reconstruct their roster in an effort to help them make a title run. That ticked off the team’s ownership group, led by Jeanie Buss, because their requests were often impossible to complete.

“Team sources say the public complaints caused serious frustration all the way to the top of the Lakers franchise. What’s more, there was little confidence that the sort of moves James and Davis wanted were realistically possible on the open market … But when the moves they wanted wouldn’t come, or when the trades that were made wouldn’t lead to the championship-contender status they all wanted so badly, the tension would rise on both sides of the Lakers ledger,” Sam Amick of The Athletic reported.

Lakers finally granted LeBron James and Anthony Davis their wish