The discussion between Perkins, Fry and Jefferson completely tear apart the fig leaf of the Lakers transfer of power

NBA celebrity Kendrick Perkins recently dropped a bombshell on the show, firing directly at LeBron James' agent Ritchie Paul: "There are new 'shelters' coming to Los Angeles - Luca Doncic, Bill Duffy and WME Sports. The era of Klutch Sports is over, and LeBron no longer controls the Lakers' management!"

These remarks directly triggered a fierce quarrel between the two and made the power struggle within the Lakers completely surface.

Perkins pointed out in the Road Trippin' podcast that the Lakers' management has completely turned to the Doncic camp and that the influence of Klutch Sports has been greatly weakened.

He revealed that after he made a public statement on TV, Paul Fu immediately called and had a big fight with him, but Perkins insisted on his own opinion: "What I am talking about is the facts, Klutch no longer controls the situation, and LeBron is no longer the Lakers' decision-maker!" The statement

is not groundless. In April this year, Lakers owner Jenny Bass personally approved Doncic's private team to deeply intervene in management decisions, and even bypassed James and directly formulated offseason plans with General Manager Pelinka. More importantly, DeAndre Ayton's signing (the agent is WME's Bill Duffy) is regarded as WME's signature operation in full swing to take over the Lakers.

Former NBA player Channing Fry said bluntly during the discussion: "James is still the same James, but if you look at the future rather than the past, you must let LeBron understand that the Lakers' future is Doncic, and you are just the core of the present." This sentence directly points to the mentality of the Lakers' management: they no longer regard James as the cornerstone of the long-term team building, but bet on Doncic.

Fry's view has been recognized by many industry insiders. The Lakers' recent operations are completely focused on Doncic, including signing Ayton (the same rookie as Doncic in the 2018 class) and hiring Nowitzki as special counsel, specializing in Doncic's key ball tactics and psychological construction.

Richard Jefferson analyzed from another perspective: "James is not in the Lakers' three-year plan, because he is not in the NBA's three-year plan - he is likely to be about to retire."

Jeverson believes that the outside world's overreacting reaction to the Lakers' "neglect James" is actually just a natural transition: "A person who is about to retire will not participate in the company's future strategic decisions."

This statement is highly consistent with recent rumors. Several league sources revealed that James may retire after the end of the 2025-26 season, and it is not even ruled out that he would directly announce his farewell to the NBA. The Lakers' management has obviously made arrangements in advance to ensure that Doncic becomes the new core of seamless connection.

Faced with the strong expansion of WME, Klutch Sports did not sit idly by. Paul Fu has frequently made rumors recently, emphasizing that "James is still eager to compete for the championship" and hinted that many teams are interested in trading James. This public pressure is actually Klutch's last struggle in the Lakers' power reshuffle.

But the reality is that the new Lakers boss Mark Walter (acquiring the team for $10 billion) prefers to build a team around Doncic. Doncic congratulated high-profilely when Walter completed the acquisition, while the James team remained silent—this distinction speaks for itself. The discussions between Perkins, Fry and Jefferson completely tear apart the fig leaf of the Lakers' transfer of power. Whether James accepts it or not, the Doncic era has arrived irreversibly. And for the four-time champion, his Lakers career may really have entered the countdown.