Jared Dudley: “I thought I was coming back to the Lakers. This is crazy. Obviously LeBron and A.D. wanted me back. But we just couldn’t convince them.”

Context:

“I thought I was coming back to the Lakers,” said Dudley, 36, in a phone interview. “This is crazy.”

“Obviously LeBron and A.D. wanted me back,” said Dudley. “But we just couldn’t convince them.”

“No one owed me anything, Rob and Kurt were honest and upfront, nothing but respect and gratitude to them and Jeanie [Buss], I will be forever thankful for the opportunity they gave me,” Dudley said. “But I did want to come back. I did think I could help the team, especially having so many new players, but I understand they wanted to get younger.”

“I talked to Rob and Kurt, I thanked them, but I told them, you’re valuing youth more than a locker room presence guy,” Dudley said. “I said, ‘I respect you for doing that, but I think you’re wrong,’”

Explained Dudley, “When people say I’m a locker room presence, my job was way more than a locker room presence. You’re a guidance counselor, a relationship expert. … I’m the middleman that brings it all together.”

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-08-26/lakers-failure-to-retain-jared-dudley-is-a-massive-loss-for-the-franchise