Lebron James is unhappy with the direction of his team. He's perfectly justified in that frustration. James signed a contract extension with the Lakers over the summer.

It was 2006. LeBron James wasn’t even midway through his first stint in Cleveland. He made the playoffs for the first time, was already a globally recognized star and well on his way to becoming the game’s best player.

As a 21-year-old, he averaged 30.2 points.

Fast forward 16 years. He’s left Cleveland, gone to Miami, won two championships, gotten married, became a father of three, gone back to Cleveland, won another championship, left for Los Angeles, won a fourth championship with the Lakers, still a giant star, still in the best-player conversation.

As a 37-year-old, he averaged 30.1 points.

What was or wasn't promised in those negotiations is not clear, but it seems unlikely that James would commit to any team that wasn't willing to make a similar commitment to him. If there's any part of him that feels Pelinka was being dishonest about his plans for the team during those discussions, well, it wouldn't be the first time. Pelinka claimed to be aligned with James and Davis about not making a move at the 2022 trade deadline. ESPN's Dave McMenamin quickly reported that wasn't true. An anonymous agent infamously told Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times in 2019 that "no one trusts" Pelinka. James might be learning why.

LeBron James is many things, but subtle isn't one of them. "I'm a winner, and I want to win," James said after his Los Angeles Lakers fell to 14-21 on Wednesday. "And I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships." Right now, that isn't happening with the Lakers. Despite his offseason promise to be a "caretaker" of LeBron's legacy, Lakers president Rob Pelinka has not yet traded the team's two available first-round picks to surround James with talent.

When a reporter asked James if the recent injury suffered by Anthony Davis would make the team less likely to do so, he told that reporter to ask Pelinka.