Did the NBA All-Star Game set up a Stephen Curry and LeBron James partnership for the future?
LeBron James and Stephen Curry looked like best buddies at the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. The multiple MVP award winners laughed and exchanged low-fives on Sunday as if they had been teammates forever. After being bitter rivals for so long, it was refreshing to see two of the best players of all time having fun and playing together.
The connection between LeBron James and Stephen Curry during Team LeBron’s 170-150 thrashing of Team Durant was not lost to Twitter users and the media. Many had wondered if the two could ever team up outside of an All-Star Game.
The tweet below from Silver Screen and Roll quickly went viral.
Would Stephen Curry consider playing with LeBron James for the LA Lakers once his contract is up?
The 2021 NBA All-Star Game
During the NBA All-Star Draft, LeBron James made Stephen Curry his second pick after taking Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo with his first. From that moment on, fans of both players eagerly awaited the two to play together.
Right from the get-go, LeBron James and Stephen Curry hit it off well. LeBron did his famous chalk toss while Steph appeared to observe in awe.
Throughout the first half of the All-Star game, James and Curry were having fun. It’s not unfathomable to think that Curry and James have imagined themselves playing together to become the most dynamic duo in the league.
Moments after the game, James tweeted his appreciation for Curry, who retweeted the post with much affection sent back to the LA Lakers forward.
As affectionate as these two have gotten, things weren't always rosy between LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry way back when
For four straight years from 2015 to 2018, LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers battled Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors for the championship. Curry’s team got the best of James’ in three of the four Finals meetings. But it was the Cavs who had the more historic championship when they battled back from a 3-1 deficit to claim the crown in 2016.
The Warriors' and Cavs' bitter rivalry created animosity between the players, organizations, cities, and their fans.
It seems like ages ago when LeBron James’ Halloween Party reportedly had tombstone cookies with Stephen Curry’s and Klay Thompson’s names on them as a jab at the Warriors for giving up a 3-1 lead. That should have ended any hopes of the two superstars ever having a friendly rapport.
Yet in 2018, when the All-Star Game featured Team LeBron vs. Team Steph, James and Curry broke the ice during the draft of their All-Star teams. The 2018 All-Star draft was not televised. James and Curry teased fans with the following tweets:
The friendly exchange on Twitter came as evidence of friendly interaction between the two superstars. That same year, the Warriors and Cavaliers would meet for the last time in the Finals. At the end of the season, James took his talents to the West Coast and joined the LA Lakers, putting him in closer proximity to Curry.
The Warriors' mini-dynasty would end in 2019 after injuries prevented them from taking home the title, and in 2020, James won his fourth title in his new purple-and-gold threads.
On Sunday, two players who have won multiple championships between 2015 and 2020 joined forces, and it looked like a natural pairing. It had a similar feel to when longtime rivals Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played together for the first time on the 1992 Dream Team.
Contract situation of LeBron James and Stephen Curry
Before the start of the 2021 season, LeBron James signed a two-year $85 million extension to continue playing for the LA Lakers until the 2022-23 season. The deal keeps James in purple and gold for at least two more seasons.
Stephen Curry was also eligible for an extension prior to the start of the 2020-21 season but failed to reach an agreement with the franchise that drafted him.
“To look at it from Curry’s perspective, if no max extension is offered next offseason either, the thought of gauging greener pasture as an unrestricted free agent won’t be lunacy,” Sports illustrated’s Michael Pina wrote shortly after Curry dropped a career-high 62 points. “The man has a lot of great basketball left. It’s conceivable Golden State squanders it.”
If Golden State squanders its opportunity to keep Stephen Curry a “Warrior for life,” you can almost bet that LA Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka will jump at the chance to add him to their core of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
This could be far-fetched, but it could soon become the leading narrative going into Stephen Curry's free agency.
After all, if Curry can play with Kevin Durant for a few seasons, why shouldn’t he consider playing with LeBron James for the LA Lakers?
Also read: LeBron James takes to Twitter to praise first-time teammate Stephen Curry and 2021 NBA All-Star MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo