One of LeBron James' favorite teammates and workout partners, Jared Dudley, will not return to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021-22. Instead, Dudley will join Jason Kidd's staff as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, which means he will work with Luka Doncic.
Last week, Yahoo's Chris Haynes reported that Dudley was likely on his way out of Los Angeles based on the Lakers' roster-building intentions. On Tuesday, Marc Stein reported that Dudley was in “advanced” talks with Dallas shortly before The Athletic's Shams Charania said Dudley and the Mavericks “agreed to a deal.”
Upon hearing the news, LeBron James couldn't help but share his NSFW feelings about the move.
Congrats to my guy if this true, which is probably is! But 🤦🏾♂️ man!! FUCK 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 24, 2021
James quickly followed up with another tweet apologizing for the language but admitted the Dudley news “hurt!! For many reasons that you wouldn't understand.”
Excuse my language but still one hurt!! For many reasons that you wouldn’t understand. 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 24, 2021
Dudley was a deeply respected, outspoken, and honest voice in the Lakers locker room, and he'll surely offer similar value around Luka Doncic and the Mavs. Mark Cuban has spent the summer revamping the front office and coaching staff around Doncic.
In addition to their time together with the Lakers, Dudley played for Kidd in 2014-15 with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jason Kidd was a great coach in Milwaukee. The man single handedly change the culture.. One of the biggest turn arounds from one year to the next in NBA history. I personally saw what he did for Middleton and Giannis. He laid the foundation for them winning the chip this year.. https://t.co/VkaUVAHFph
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) August 11, 2021
The Lakers have three open roster spots and negative cap space. However, they could have re-signed Dudley at the minimum in a Udonis Haslem-esque player-coach capacity. At exit interviews, Dudley (perhaps facetiously) gave himself a “one thousand percent” chance of returning to the Lakers in 2021-22.
Dudley's value as a teammate is undeniable. During the Lakers' play-in game win over the Golden State Warriors, Dudley and Markieff Morris were credited with inspiring the team with halftime speeches.
During a recent Twitter Q&A, Kyle Kuzma called Dudley the greatest teammate he's ever had.
Duds and it’s not even close. https://t.co/5t8DRv9YsQ
— kuz (@kylekuzma) August 8, 2021
Earlier this summer, Jared Dudley explained his locker room value on J.J. Redick's “The Old Man and the Three” podcast.
a crucial presence in the Lakers film room and at the gambling table, per Jared Dudley https://t.co/QYpg2l2kqw
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) July 19, 2021
Jared Dudley was also present alongside James and Anthony Davis at a recruitment dinner of Russell Westbrook in July.
The 36-year old has played 14 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 1.3 points in 57 games for the Lakers over two seasons.