Yaron Weitzman (A Hollywood Ending)

Yaron Weitzman is the author of A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the Lebron Lakers.

For Weitzman, chronicling the story of the Lakers was not easy.

Unsurprisingly, LeBron James did not participate in any interviews, but even Lakers brass was reluctant to lend insight to Weitzman.

“To this day, I don’t know why,” Weitzman says when I ask him why the Lakers were so opposed to his search for truth.

But Weitzman is not without his theories.

There is thought that Jeanie Buss, the much-maligned former owner of the Lakers, was ridiculed because of her gender.

“There is a lot of sexism in the professional sports world,” Weitzman points out, and so maybe she thought official participation could harm her and/or the Lakers brand.

Yet, for his part, Weitzman did not set out to accost the Lakers for their perceived misplays.

Rather, he wanted to be as objective as possible.

In fact, Weitzman had several conversations with Jeanie Buss.

“We had a couple off the record chats,” he reveals, noting how they had several cordial interactions over the years.

“We had dinner in Las Vegas for Summer League and lunch in LA, but somewhere along the way, things changed.”

In June of 2025, Buss sold a controlling stake in the Lakers to Mark Walton for a record $10 billion.

Considering that Weitzman’s book was published later that same year, one could reasonably assume that Buss worried about how the book may be perceived amid a blockbuster sale.

At any rate, the book was published, people both in and out of NBA circles have lavished praise upon it, and the basketball universe has continued to rotate more cohesively than the reigning champion Thunder when they are on defense.

For reference, several years ago, Weitzman also penned a book about the 76ers, and their infamous “Process.”

When comparing both books, the reception among fanbases has varied.

Sixers followers appeared to be more intellectually curious, whereas Lakers supporters were less concerned with the daily affairs of their hallowed team, so long as stars were in the building and wins were being accrued.

“Sixers fans were more interested in understanding the behind-the-scenes than Lakers fans,” Weitzman says.

“Part of that is because things always worked out [for the Lakers], and so why would they care if their front office or ownership is a mess.”

Of note:

LeBron’s camp has politely contested a few things in Weitzman’s latest book.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. They haven’t done so in inappropriate ways,” Weitzman then clarifies.

“If I go on Bomani Jones’ podcast and say that I think LeBron acts like a frontrunner, they are within their rights to push back on that.”

Therein lies a compelling narrative, because the widely held belief in the NBA is that LeBron James tells his bosses what to do, but the reality is that for as transcendent of a talent as LeBron is, and for as much as a franchise like the Lakers wants to keep him happy, they also are running a business, and they do not delegate basketball-related decisions to players under their employ.

“That was one of the biggest revelations with the book,” Weitzman says.

“There was this idea people had that LeBron and Klutch [sports agency] ran the Lakers, and it’s not true to the extent that people think it is.”

As of this writing, having just watched Luka and LeBron battle the Knicks at the Garden on a Sunday night, it is undeniable that the NBA thrives off having global superstars, and sure, certain teams will pander to their most marketable assets.

Think the underwhelming Thanasis Antetokounmpo serving as de facto head cheerleader of the Milwaukee Bucks while his brother Giannis terrorizes defenses specifically designed to mitigate his impact.

Or Bronny James being handed a multi-year contract by the Lakers, despite pushback from pundits who believe Bronny only was able to ink that deal due to his father’s massive presence in Tinseltown.

But bear in mind that while Thanasis Antetokounmpo or Bronny James might steal a roster spot from a more deserving prospect, what drives revenue in the NBA is not filling out a balanced 15-man roster.

No. what keeps fans like you and I engaged are titans like Luka or LeBron, players so gifted that their surnames run in the shadows of the name their parents gave them when they were born.

That being said, acquiescing to the desires of a franchise-altering talent isn’t always effective.

See: the late Kobe Bryant during his last few years when he was with the Lakers.

“You saw the downside of that (handing out a mega deal to an aged superstar),” Weitzman says, in reference to Kobe’s two-year $48.5 million deal that he signed while recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, a move that inhibited the Lakers from being able to sign younger superstars.

Here in 2026, we are seeing much of the same with LeBron, who despite being over 40 years old, is earning over $50 million on a Lakers team that may be more competitive if that capital was allocated elsewhere.

If those gaudy salaries seem ludicrous, NBA fans have only themselves to blame as they have disavowed parity and team basketball by concentrating their gazes on dynastic ensembles like, well, any team LeBron was on from 2010-2020.

You can’t forget the Warriors of the 2010s either, and not just because Draymond Green kicked Steven Adams in the groin or talked his way into more extracurricular infractions than he could have otherwise avoided.   

“Everyone says they love that [parity], but then we talk about how everyone misses Jordan’s Bulls or Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers,” Weitzman affirms.

“The dynasties are the thing that sold.”

In A Hollywood Ending, Weitzman captures all this and more, gleaning insights into aspects of NBA life that you can’t find by watching Stephen A. Smith vociferously bloviate at his less-boisterous yet still insufferable colleagues on ESPN.

“One of my skills as an NBA writer is bringing to life the things that happen behind closed doors and off the court that impact what we see on the court,” Weitzman explains.

“The Lakers were ripe for an exploration there. We hadn’t had a full account of LeBron’s time there [in LA].”

Adds Weitzman:

“LeBron is a person of genuine interest, and obviously you want to write about people who the public is interested in.”

After documenting Sam Hinkie’s “Process” in Philly, we had to wait quite a bit for Weitzman to come out with A Hollywood Ending.

Of course, writing a book is a laborious endeavor, and this Lakers book basically just came out, but I couldn’t help but ask Weitzman what story he would like to capture next.

“I’m still recovering mentally,” he cracks.

Weitzman then notes how finding a topic that is interesting to write about, and balancing that with appealing to people who will actually buy the book is challenging.

“I love watching the Thunder,” he says, but if you’re a finance bro in Boston, you might not be able to locate Oklahoma on a map, much less emotionally invest in their NBA team.

“I don’t think a book about the Thunder, a small-market team, is going to sell.”

Ultimately, publishing houses need to see an ROI on their investment, and Weitzman needs time to recover from his latest project, so we don’t know what kind of literary genius awaits us, and that’s okay.

“I’m not there yet,” he admits, but one day he will be, and I look forward to that day. QS

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