The Los Angeles Lakers had a rather strange situation on their hands following their loss to the crosstown rival Clippers on Christmas Day.

Kyle Kuzma's trainer took to Instagram to apparently criticize LeBron James' work ethic, a move simultaneously followed by a cryptic tweet from Kuzma:

Kuzma apparently spoke to James to clear the air in the aftermath, and they have seemingly left the incident in the past. With Kuzma's name now being tossed around in trade rumors, it bears noting that James still supports the youngster in spite of recent events, per Sam Amick of The Athletic:

As for James, whose influence and voice should never be overlooked in situations like this, a source with knowledge of his thinking said he remains supportive of Kuzma — even after a social media snafu with Kuzma’s trainer, who threw shade LeBron’s way after the Lakers’ Christmas Day loss to the Clippers and inspired the understandable questioning of Kuzma by the media in Lakers Land a day later.

Naturally, LeBron has always made his voice heard in the front office. That much was clear during the 2017-18 season — his final with the Cavaliers — when Cleveland made a host of deadline moves to try to give James support for another run to the NBA Finals.

Similarly, Kuzma's role is vastly different this season. He looked like a potential franchise cornerstone over the past two years, but he is mostly relied upon as a bench scorer in Frank Vogel's rotation. That said, James and Kuzma established a particularly close rapport last season.

The Lakers will need to show some decisiveness ahead of the trade deadline. What kind of value can they accrue for Kuzma, and is it worth going all-in for a championship this season?

These are the questions general manager Rob Pelinka will have to answer in due time.