“Hey you know if you don't take that last contract you can come down to Lakers” – NBA analyst believes LeBron James pretended to support Stephen Curry just to recruit him to Lakers until he re-signed with GSW
LeBron James and Steph Curry appear to have rekindled their friendship despite being rivals from 2015 to 2018. NBA analyst Brian Windhorst believes James fixed things because he was looking to convince the Golden State Warriors guard to join him in Los Angeles.
Between 2015 and 2018, James and Curry led their respective teams to the NBA Finals in four straight seasons. Things got heated during the 2018 Finals when the two were seen mouthing off to each other in Game 1 of the series.
The rivalry has cooled off since James signed with the Lakers in July 2018. The two superstars began developing a close friendship in 2021. It started with LeBron James picking Curry in the 2021 All-Star Draft. James then publicly praised Curry whenever he got the chance.
Windhorst was immediately suspicious of LeBron James' antics. He believes it was a ploy to recruit Curry, who was approaching the end of his contract with Golden State.
However, it is worth stating that James has been a fan of Curry since 2008. On The Bill Simmons podcast, Windhorst said:
"The reason I thought that he was sort of making nice nice with Curry a couple of years ago was because there was some, and if Joe Lacob was on this pod he would laugh at me and go, 'What are you talking about?' But there was some wonder about whether Curry would take that last contract with Golden State."
"Now look, it ended up being 0.0 drama, the Warriors offered the full boat. But he had injury issues. The Warriors were looking at a 400 million dollar payroll, nobody was sure they were going to do it."
"But I thought that he was you know giving him the wink wink because he was like, 'Hey, you know, if you don't take that last contract you can come down to Lakers.'"
Curry signed a four-year max extension with the Warriors in August 2021. He will remain under contract with the team through 2026.
Although their chances of playing together have reduced, the two have remained friends. At Draymond Green's wedding this summer, they were spotted sharing laughs and having a good time.
LeBron James recently expressed an interest in playing with Steph Curry
Things have not gone according to plan for LeBron James. But the LA Lakers star still has an open mind about teaming up with Curry. He has played with Curry during the last two NBA All-Star games. They have shown outstanding chemistry on the court.
In an episode of 'The Shop', LeBron James said that he would love to join forces with Curry one day:
LeBron said if there’s one player he could play with right now it would be Steph Curry.
Via The Shop, H/T @LALeBron23 https://t.co/fvJ9v4LI9L
With James approaching the tail end of his career, fans might never get their wish. Nonetheless, the NBA community has gotten a taste of what it would be like to watch them play together.
LeBron James' Lakers will face Steph Curry's Warriors during the first night of the 2022-23 season on October 18.