LeBron James Is ‘Hurt’ But Happy For Jared Dudley Getting A Coaching Job In Dallas

Jared Dudley’s playing career is over. After 14 years in the Association in which he took the floor for seven different teams, Dudley is going to transition to the bench, as reports indicate he will take an assistant coaching job as a member of Jason Kidd’s staff with the Dallas Mavericks.

Dudley’s career had been winding down in recent years as he’s become an end-of-bench player who averaged less than 10 minutes per game. Still, he’s had a reputation for being a great locker room guy, and as a result, one of his now-former teammates is quite upset he’s opting to become a coach.

LeBron James took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon and stressed that while he’s happy that Dudley was able to get a new job, he’s quite upset he’s going to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, where the pair have been teammates for each of the last two years.

He went on to apologize for his word choice but made clear that the bond he’s built up with Dudley during their time as running mates has been a special one.

Dudley didn’t get on the floor a ton in L.A. — he appeared in 57 regular season games across two years — but it’s evident he was beloved by the team’s MVP during their time together.