Dennis Schroder Tells His Side of the Story About Leaving the Lakers

Dennis wants people to know he shouldn't be the punchline of the offseason.

When Dennis Schroder signed 1 year / $5,890,000 contract with the Boston Celtics, it was immediately reported that he had first turned down a four-year contract extension worth up to $84 million with the Los Angeles Lakers. This understandably made him the butt of many a joke on social media, but Schroder himself tells a different story, per Yahoo sports.

“The Lakers told us we’re not talking [about the extension] during the season, and, at the end of the day, I never had that contract in front of me. That’s one thing. But they wanted to talk, and at the end of the day, me and my agent decided not to sign that contract.”

An odd quote that calls to mind a Dave Chappelle inspired Rick James quote, as well. It's unclear what Schroder truly meant here, but he is claiming he never had the Lakers contract in front of him. If that IS true and Schroder isn't just trying to save face, his agent owes him somewhere around $84 million dollars. 

Schroder doing his best to avoid humiliation with this quote aside, the story starts to become more clear with another quote from Schroder.

“I feel like for me, personally, I got to be comfortable in the environment that I’m in. I love the Lakers organization and they did great things, but I think, for me, I don’t think I fit in 100%. You play with LeBron [James] and AD [Anthony Davis], two of the best players in the NBA, and I don’t think I gave them everything, what I bring to the table.”

Before delving into the subtext, this is a good quote from Schroder. He is very respectful of the Lakers organization despite clearly feeling out of place. That said, the "I don't think I fit in 100%" is the part of the quote that speaks the loudest. Perhaps he truly did not know about the $84 million contract. Or maybe he truly did and just wanted to play in a place where he felt he would fit in better. Passing up that much money is difficult, but money is not number one driving force for taking a job, at least not for everyone. 

Regardless, Schroder is now a Celtic where he should get his opportunity to run the offense with Jasyon Tatum and Jaylen Brown around him.