LeBron James ended up elsewhere, and one of the reasons may have been sitting right in Golden State’s own injury report.
The Warriors spent the summer trying to find the right upgrade around Stephen Curry, and LeBron James was the biggest name tied to them for a long stretch. His connections with Curry and Draymond Green made the fit look real enough to dream on. But the whole picture shifted after the Philadelphia 76ers landed Jaylen Brown, and Golden State’s chances took a hit.
Marcus Thompson offered another layer to why James passed on the Warriors when he talked with Tom Tolbert on “ The Tom Tolbert Show.” Thompson said Curry’s workload and health were part of the conversation, and he pointed directly to the concern around Curry’s knee.
“You’ve just got to look now and say, ‘I don’t even want Steph playing 70 games next season.’ If he’s playing 70…”
When Tolbert asked whether Curry’s lingering knee issues were truly a worry, Thompson didn’t dance around it.
“[I’m] as worried as he is. Yeah, he seems worried about it… I think that’s one of the reasons Bron didn’t come here because he’s like, ‘How many games am I going to have to play for y’all?
Like, what happens if I need two weeks off?’ Yeah, no.
Ain’t no room for that.”
That’s the heart of it: even at this stage of his career, James can still change a team, but he’s no longer built to carry a club through long stretches by himself. If he had joined Golden State, he would have been asked to absorb a huge load, especially with Jimmy Butler out of the picture.
James ultimately chose the 76ers, and from his own standpoint, that looks like the smarter path if the goal is to maximize a title shot. For the Warriors, though, it was another miss in a summer that didn’t break their way.
Golden State did keep working. The front office added Brandon Williams, Georges Niang, and Dalen Terry on an Exhibit 10 deal as it tried to firm up the roster before the season.
Those moves give the bench some shape. Williams and Niang bring help, and Terry gives the team another wing option who could help on the perimeter. But none of that changes the basic reality: this team still rises and falls with Curry.
That’s why his health looms so large. Curry missed 27 games last season because of patellofemoral pain in his knee, and he still produced 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 39.3% from deep.
The problem is the total number of games, not the production. He appeared in just 43 contests, and that gives Golden State plenty of reason to be cautious.
With two key players already out injured, the Warriors can’t really afford to lose another. And if the team is treating the coming season as a “gap year,” then dialing back Curry’s workload may be the most practical way to protect both him and the season ahead.
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