LeBron James: “I think you all know by now, Rich is his own man and what Rich says is not a direct reflection of me and how I feel”
https://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/47606678/lebron-james-separates-rich-paul-comments-austin-reaves-trade
James told ESPN he did not consult with his longtime friend Paul about the decision to enter the media space and host the podcast before it launched last month.
“Rich, that’s what he’s doing,” James told ESPN. “That’s his whole thing. That’s what he’s doing. That’s what he’s talking about, but I have zero conversations about what his topics are going to be or what they are going to talk about. He is his own man and that is his platform.”
One of Reaves’ agents, Reggie Berry of AMR Agency, approached Paul on the sideline near half court at halftime of the Lakers-Hawks game Tuesday. The two spoke for more than five minutes and the topic of conversation was Paul’s public trade scenario regarding Reaves, sources told ESPN.
James said there was no fallout between him and Reaves, who is his longest-tenured teammate on the Lakers, after the podcast episode.
“AR knows how I feel about him,” James told ESPN. “All you got to do is look at us on the bench. Me and AR talk every single day. So, AR knows how I feel about him and I hope AR – or his camp – don’t look at me and think this is words from me are coming through Rich.
“Rich has his perspective of what he sees, I have my perspective. I’m a grown man, he’s a grown man and I think people should realize that grown men can say whatever the f— they want to say and it shouldn’t reflect somebody else is saying it.”
It’s not the first controversial take Paul has shared about the Lakers this season. In December, around the time L.A. lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, Paul said on the podcast that the Lakers were “not championship contenders.”
James responded by saying, “I can’t think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. … Talking about what type of damage we can do in the postseason in December, that’s not right for the basketball gods.”