Lakers' Jeanie Buss reportedly wanted to trade LeBron James to a Western Conference rival

LeBron James has been with the Los Angeles Lakers longer than he was with the Miami Heat.

Even so, chances are that most people will remember him for the latter tenure than for the former once it's all said and done. Notably, things could've been quite different in Southern California. James could've never broken Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record in Purple and Gold.

According to a report by ESPN insider Baxter Holmes, former Lakers governor Jeanie Buss considered moving on from the franchise star years ago.

Jeanie Buss reportedly resented LeBron James, considered trading him

Per the report, Buss was frustrated with the grasp James and his agents had on the front office.

"Jeanie privately grumbled, people close to the team say, about what she felt was James' outsized ego and the overt control that he and Klutch Sports, which represents both James and Anthony Davis, exerted over the organization at times," Holmes wrote. 

Holmes adds that she resented the fact that the front office didn't get any credit for recruiting him. Instead, James got all the praise as the savior of a struggling, once-great franchise. Notably, that didn't stop there. Per Holmes, the former governor even considered sending him right across the hall to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"In 2022, in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade, multiple people said Jeanie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and, later that year, even about trading James, with the LA Clippers floated as a possibility," Holmes added.

Ultimately, James got a two-year, $104 million contract extension that included a no-trade clause. Publicly, Buss and James have always seemed to be on the same page. They've even been spotted having friendly conversations and hugging at Lakers Summer League games.

The reports of James' unmatched influence on his teams aren't anything new. It's been that way since he entered the league more than two decades ago. And now that Buss agreed to sell the franchise, it seems that the player she once secretly resented managed to outlast her.