Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, is currently in the headlines.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ blazing hot start to the 2025-26 NBA season has now been put into question, especially following their blowout NBA Cup loss against the San Antonio Spurs.
Although the Lakers are still the fourth seed in the Western Conference, some have started to question their position as a real contender.
This surprisingly includes LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, who openly stated that the Lakers aren’t a contender for the 2026 NBA Championship.
Rich Paul doesn’t think the LA Lakers can get to the 2026 Western Conference Finals
A trio of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves sounds unstoppable on paper, especially considering their scoring prowess.
Despite that, Paul insisted that the Lakers aren’t contenders in the West ‘right now.’
“I personally don’t think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders right now. Not right now. I don’t think they have enough to get to the Western Conference Finals,” Paul said on the Game Over podcast.
The super agent added: “When you go into the playoffs, we’ve seen last year, they ran into athleticism and length. They struggled. Then you look at it now, athleticism, length, shooting, speed.
“Can the Lakers play fast? I don’t think so. That style of play is going to be very easy to guard when you get to the playoffs.”
For context, the Lakers were sent home in the first round during the 2025 NBA Playoffs. While the Lakers have improved their roster, it’s still not enough, at least per Paul.
Danny Green feels Rich Paul’s message was directed at the LA Lakers’ front office
The Lakers may currently have one of the best records in the league, but they have often been exposed when facing off against other top NBA teams.
Keeping that in mind, 3x NBA champion Danny Green believes Paul’s message was a subtle way of telling the Lakers front office to make some trades.
“Y’all are not where you need to be, get another big. You need to make a trade, y’all need to make another move. It’s usually in service of him,” Green said on the No Fouls Given podcast.
“When superstars say something, they put pressure on the front office to make a move or to do something,” the former Laker continued.
He concluded, stating: “So, Rich is in that I don’t think he’s wrong. And I think he believes they need to make a move for them to be contenders.”
Green does agree with Paul, but it also raises the question of whether it’s actually LBJ’s request that his agent made public to save the 4x NBA champion from facing flak? Only time will tell.
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