Lakers’ LeBron James reacts to teammate Jared Dudley joining Mavericks as assistant coach: “This one hurts”

The Dallas Mavericks are adding 14-year-old NBA veteran Jared Dudley to their coaching staff, something Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is quite disappointed to find out. Dudley announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that the information from earlier today was true – that he was retire as a player and started his coaching career with the Mavericks.

When James found out, he took to twitter to share his feelings about the move, writing “Kudos to my guy if that’s true who [it] probably is! But man !! F —. “In a follow-up tweet James explained his initial uncensored reaction: “Excuse my language but this one hurts !! For many reasons you wouldn’t understand.”

For his part, Dudley thanked the Lakers’ organization, and particularly thanked James, Anthony Davis and team owner Jeanie Buss, who he said “without … I’m not joining [the Lakers] or win a [ring]. “

But let’s take a step back. It may be surprising to see James blurting out curse words on social media about a teammate who only played 12 games last season, or who only averaged eight minutes in the year the Lakers played. won a championship. But it’s not about losing an important player who impacts the score as much as losing someone who has earned a reputation as the ideal bench-top veteran who passes his wisdom on to all the guys around. the list.

When James was asked about the kind of impact Dudley is providing the Lakers as a bench-ending veteran last season, he gave praise to the veteran forward.

“I got to play with real professionals for this role, and guys who are stars in their role,” said James. “[Dudley] is another one of those guys, that everything a team needs – I mean literally everything a team needs, he’s ready for anything, both on and off the floor. That’s a rough diamond to have for a budding baseball club. “

So while Dudley’s stats don’t suggest he’s been an integral part of the Lakers for the past two seasons, it’s clear that while James has been keen to talk about his new role, he’s made a significant impact.