LeBron James was ‘pissed’ about Kevin Durant calling James’ team environment ‘toxic’

LeBron James was reportedly not happy with Kevin Durant‘s comments on the environment surrounding his teams.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who has covered LeBron James for years, wrote that the King was ‘pissed’ about Kevin Durant’s comments.

"It would appear James would have an uphill battle in convincing Durant to join forces after Durant’s scathing remarks to Bleacher Report earlier this month describing the “toxic environment” that surrounds James’ teams.“I was a little pissed off when I first heard it, to be honest,” James said of Durant’s remarks. “I didn’t know where it stemmed from, and I was asked later on that night after our game and I didn’t want to comment because I didn’t see it, I didn’t hear [it]. … I started ‘Uninterrupted’ for a reason, and I know how sound bites can be chopped and diced and things of that nature, so I wanted to get the whole layout of what actually happened.”"

This is quite the developing story.

If this is true and Durant isn’t a fan of James’ teams, it could lead to the Lakers virtually having their odds for Durant this offseason zeroed out. That’s not a good look for the King who now needs an Anthony Davis-caliber player to down the Dubs.

However, that seems to be the new plan for James anyway.

He was reportedly eating dinner with Davis following the Pelicans-Lakers game just a few days ago. While no sanctions were made against James, apparently small-market GMs were not happy about his actions with Davis, calling for tampering against the four-time MVP.

Ultimately, James would do with Davis what he did to Bosh and Love. Davis would turn into a premier three-point shooting big- nothing more, nothing less. He wouldn’t be the superstar scorer that we’ve grown to love.

I think that’s what Kevin Durant has noticed on James’ teams as well. He understands that alongside Curry he can put up 20+ shots per game and scoring nearly 30 points per game and not change the team’s culture or his play style.

What Durant also might see is the leadership factor. David West once said the Dubs are led by a ‘committee.’ While he did mention that Stephen Curry leads the committee, he nonetheless called is a group. Is James the sole leader of his teams or is that group-style leadership?

While these questions would all have to be answered before Durant potentially heads elsewhere this summer, the consensus for Durant staying in the Bay seems to be getting better and better by the day. Once the frontrunner, it doesn’t seem Durant to LA is too likely anymore.