Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka is a polarizing figure, and he is now coming under fire from one of LeBron James‘ friends. X user Cuffs The Legend ripped Pelinka for landing an A-list center in Walker Kessler only after both James and Anthony Davis were gone.
“Anthony Davis practically begged Rob Pelinka to get him a CENTER alongside him for YEARS… Rob didn’t budge.
“AD got back doored.. Bron lowkey got back doored.. and NOW he wanna be a competent GM now that the duo that won you a championship is gone.. you can’t make this s*** up LOL 🐍.”
Cuffs slapped the dreaded “snake” label there on Pelinka. Davis had indeed said out loud on multiple occasions that the Lakers needed to trade for a center. He wanted to be the power forward, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
This was despite the fact that having two quality centers in Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee next to Davis in 2019-20 was a big reason the Lakers were so successful that season and went on to win the title. That blueprint was there, but Pelinka didn’t make the move. Now, when Luka Doncic wanted a center, though, he acted and got him one in Kessler.
Cuffs felt the need to call Pelinka out over this, and interestingly, Davis, who isn’t active at all on X, reacted to his post with five laughing emojis.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— Anthony Davis (@AntDavis23) July 1, 2026
Prior to this, Davis, who is now a member of the Washington Wizards, had only put out two posts since the start of February, and both were promotional. The 33-year-old would have come across plenty of viral posts in these months, but chose to react to this one.
Davis sure appears to be agreeing with Cuffs about Pelinka. The 10-time All-Star is unlikely to have been too pleased to see Kessler end up with the Lakers after his requests went unfulfilled.
Davis also couldn’t have been too happy about how his tenure with the Lakers ended. He had signed a three-year, $175 million extension in 2023, but was shipped out of town before it even kicked in.
The Lakers sent Davis, Max Christie, and their 2029 first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic in February 2025. It wasn’t a move he had seen coming, as Pelinka and then-Mavericks GM had been negotiating secretly. You could argue he got backdoored.
As for James, well, his agent, Rich Paul, has said that the Lakers wanted him back, but he chose to leave. So, it’s hard to say he got backdoored.
James can now go wherever he wants to, and the Golden State Warriors are one of the teams linked to him. The Warriors will reportedly look into making a move for Davis, too, if the 41-year-old commits to them. A James-Davis reunion would be great, and it will be interesting to see how this situation pans out.
