LeBron James takes subtle shot at Lakers while praising Rams GM for saying ‘f--- them picks’

If LeBron James had his way, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka would have been more like his Rams counterpart, Les Snead, at the trade deadline last week.

While Pelinka and the Lakers resisted James’ not-so-subtle pushing to upgrade their roster using their 2027 draft pick last week, Snead and the Rams approached things differently a few months ago, using so many draft picks to acquire upgrades and go all-in this season that Snead’s own kids got him a coffee mug with a meme featuring Snead’s face and the message “fuck them picks” on it.

The result for the Rams was a Super Bowl, and at the parade celebrating their victory on Wednesday, Snead wore a shirt with the same message, as his wife, Kara Henderson Snead, gleefully chronicled:

While we don’t know if the Lakers’ patience will be rewarded just as much with whatever current middle schooler they select in the 2027 NBA Draft, LeBron saw Snead’s message to his critics, and couldn’t resist co-opting it to send a barely subtle missive of his own, aimed directly at Pelinka, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, and the rest or the organization:

So, yeah. If it wasn’t clear before from the leaks that it is “totally false” that James was aligned with Pelinka’s inaction at the NBA trade deadline nearly a week ago, this passive aggressive social media post should leave no doubt: He is not really happy with the Lakers’ front office for not saying “fuck them picks” last week.

Does that mean their relationship is doomed? Maybe, maybe not. All that seems certain is right now is that this is likely just the start, and probably not the last time James is going to take public digs at the organization for not being willing to further mortgage their future to fix a mess that he helped get them into in the first place.

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