Stephen Curry made his pitch this summer, but LeBron James still passed on the Warriors.
According to the latest intel, Curry tried to recruit James after the former Lakers star announced he was leaving Los Angeles. CNBC reported, “Curry acknowledged he tried to recruit LeBron James to join the Warriors after the former Laker announced he was leaving that team,” and added, “James ultimately signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, per various media reports.”
Curry didn’t treat it like a casual check-in, either. He said that with a player of James’ stature on the market, it would have been foolish not to make a move.
As Curry put it: “If anybody didn’t [try to recruit him], I think they’d be a fool,” Curry said. “It was a good time for the NBA - obviously with a guy of his stature, his notoriety, to be in that position where he got to choose where he wanted to go.”
The Warriors were chasing help all summer, and James would have been the biggest swing of all. Golden State missed on the prominent free agents it wanted, but Curry still made sure his voice was heard. Half the league reportedly made its own private pitches, and Curry joined that chorus.
James’ latest season made the case for why so many teams came calling. He averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game on 51.5% shooting. Even now, he can still produce at a high level, and his veteran presence remains the kind of thing that can lift a team’s ceiling.
There was also a layer of familiarity here that made the chase feel obvious. James has spent years going head-to-head with Golden State, including four NBA Finals against the franchise. Curry and James have long been linked as modern basketball icons, and their careers have been intertwined through all that championship history.
But Golden State never got there. James reportedly wasn’t sold on the Warriors as true contenders, and concerns about Curry’s lingering knee troubles also factored in. As things stand, he had no interest in joining the Dubs, and the only way he would have teamed up with Curry was on another team entirely.
For Curry, that leaves another summer where the star chase didn’t land. He remains one of the league’s biggest names, but outside of Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, the Warriors still don’t have much star company around him.
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