After serving as one of the Lakers' most important locker room voices over the last two seasons, Jared Dudley departed both the team and the court itself earlier this week, turning in his uniform for a suit to join Jason Kidd’s staff in Dallas.
That wasn’t an entire surprise as the Lakers had forecast that they would likely be moving on from Dudley when it comes to roster construction. However, that move came despite some rather important figures pushing for Dudley to return.
According to Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, who spoke with Dudley after his move, both LeBron James and Anthony Davis wanted the Lakers to retain Dudley.