/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69447060/1228832678.jpg.0.jpg)
Contrary to popular belief, LeBron James isn’t the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, nor is he the president of basketball operations — both of those titles belong to Rob Pelinka. But Pelinka has involved James in the decisions he’s made in the past and this summer will be no different.
James isn’t the only person that will have a say in what the Lakers do in the offseason, though. According to Pelinka, Anthony Davis and Frank Vogel will also be looped in on the moves the team makes in preparation for the 2021-22 season.
“I think when it comes to roster building, you guys know we’ve been very collaborative,” Vogel said in his exit interview last week. “Anthony Davis and LeBron James are championship pillars of this franchise for years to come and of course they’re going to be involved in how we build our roster and how we have built our roster. (They are) both great basketball minds, and Frank as well.
“I think the cohesiveness in making these decisions between your star players, your head coach and the front office is really important and that will continue to be our process going forward.”
That cohesiveness in the front office doesn’t always translate onto the court, as we saw with the moves that the Lakers made in free agency and the buyout market last season, but, at the very least, it makes it harder for anyone to point fingers when things don’t pan out. That may explain why there hasn’t been much noise surrounding James’ relationship with Pelinka or Vogel — good or bad — over the last two years. The accountability is shared.
Perhaps that will change if the Lakers don’t meet expectations after a normal offseason, but for now, it seems like everyone’s on the same page.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.