“Might as well now start trying to plant the seeds of ‘I ain’t had nothing to do with it’… Vet move by the King” - Jalen Rose says LeBron James doesn’t want Russell Westbrook blood on his hands

LeBron James recently shared a tweet in support of LA Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook. Former NBA player Jalen Rose believes that James had an ulterior motive for posting the tweet.

On "The Jalen & Jacoby Show," Rose said:

"LeBron James doesn't want that Russell Westbrook blood on his hands. It hit a culmination point when they were at the LA Summer League, the Lakers were playing a game, they both were in the gym and everybody saw that they weren't speaking.

"So therefore, they needed to get on the call and do the Kumbaya to acknowledge that we're all getting paid an astronomical amount of money to play for one of the most storied franchises in the league and then sports, we need everybody to comport themselves as such."

Currently, there is no certainty about the state of Westbrook and LeBron's relationship. Rose believes that James' tweet of appreciation was a tactic to wash his hands of all the drama that has gone down this summer.

"When Russ get traded, he gonna be mad at all of us anyway, so might as well now start trying to plant the seeds of, 'I ain't had nothing to do with it,' so when Russ comes back and he has a quadruple double next year and he's playing another uniform, and Russ is like, 'Yeah take that Lakers,' LeBron can be like, 'I told y'all he was going to ball this year.' Vet move by the King."

Since moving to LA, Westbrook has been heavily criticized for his poor performances. Westbrook was expected to help LeBron James in the Lakers' pursuit of winning the championship. However, they didn't play well together last season. Although King James had a stellar campaign, Westbrook was a shadow of his former self.

How far can LeBron James lead the LA Lakers next season?

2022 NBA Summer League - Phoenix Suns v Los Angeles Lakers

Next season is going to be a historic one for LeBron James. The 'kid from Akron' is only 1325 points away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record. He is expected to break that with ease. He only needs to average 16.2 points per game for the season to break it.

James will also be looking to help the Lakers win a championship. He will turn 38 in December and doesn't have many years of competitive basketball left in him. The Lakers signed him to a two-year extension and are trying their best to build a competitive roster around him.