LeBron James ‘Badly’ Wanted Lakers to Bring Back Fan Favorite

LeBron James has a big say in his teams he plays with and that’s exactly what happened in LA. The Los Angeles Lakers brought the four-time NBA champion to the team to increase their chances for winning a title. LeBron has played with a lot of teammates in his career. He can recognize true potential and some of these players left a big mark. As you may be guessing, LeBron James really tried to bring a fan favorite back to LA.

Marc Stein wrote about this in his most recent report. LeBron really likes Alex Caruso, but the Lakers decided to give up on him.

“LeBron James was a strong advocate for the trade that brought Westbrook to Hollywood and thus has to wear his considerable slice of culpability for how poorly things are working out,” Stein reported. “Yet one source did point out at least one counter on James’ behalf, noting that he was also one of the organization’s staunchest Alex Caruso fans and badly wanted the Lakers to re-sign the defensive-minded guard.

“The Lakers, despite all of their considerable revenue streams, refused to offer a contract on par with the four-year, $37 million deal Caruso landed from Chicago because of the luxury-tax implications. The injuries that have limited Davis to 37 games have done the most damage to the Lakers’ 17th-ranked defense, but Caruso’s departure was another big hit.”

LeBron James couldn’t bring back the fan favorite

Talented Caruso went on The Old Man and the Three podcast to talk about his departure from LA. He revealed that Rob Pelinka made a not-so-good offer. Caruso didn’t want the two-year deal worth $15 million.

“Essentially we got that offer, went back to LA, asked if they could do the same,” Caruso said. “They said no. Asked for something else that was a little less, they said no. So I said, ‘OK if that’s what it comes to, I’m ready to go to Chicago and start the next chapter.’ It’s been great. I think it’s been a great decision for me.”

Caruso had a strong fanbase in LA. Fans were devastated following his departure. The Lakers didn’t want to give him a lot of money and the talented player decided to take his skills somewhere else.