LeBron James has never been traded in his career, but that could have changed this winter. The Warriors with Stephen Curry tried acquiring their longtime rival LeBron to save their franchise’s contention window, but a deal couldn’t be made.
LeBron has opened up about the potential trade on Inside the NBA, revealing that it was never even presented to him and that he found out at the same time as everyone else, with ESPN releasing a story.
“It didn’t go far at all. I actually heard about it when everybody else heard about it. Charles has been in the league, Kenny has been in the league, Shaq has been in the league. Sometimes, conversations happen behind closed doors that you don’t even know about. If it’s real or not, then they’ll bring it to you, but it never even got to me. I heard when the report dropped as well.”
LeBron says he was unaware of the Warriors trade rumors
"It didn't go far at all. I actually heard about it when everybody else heard about it."
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 19, 2024
The Warriors have had an extremely tough year and it seems they were hoping giving up the farm for LeBron will make Curry happy and give them a chance to contend once again. With this trade falling through, the Warriors stood pat at the deadline and are hoping their current roster is enough for a playoff run. They’re currently 27-26.
The Lakers are 30-26 this season and didn’t really have any reason to trade LeBron. Even if he could be a free agent this summer, no team will ever voluntarily give him up.
James is averaging 24.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists, helping the Lakers stay competitive even when it seems the West has progressed to a level of skill that James and Curry can’t overcome singlehandedly.
Stephen Curry Reacted To The Trade Rumors
The magnitude of a James-Curry duo is extremely hard to fathom. The pair are the two defining figures of the last two decades of basketball and have had a fierce rivalry since 2015. Despite that, Stephen Curry reacted to the James trade rumors and called the attempt ‘a nice little surprise.‘
“I’m never surprised, I’m just surprised when that stuff gets out. I’m assuming every team is making calls. If every fanbase or media group would know about it, it would normalize the conversations that happen in the front office around the trade deadline. When you’re exploring around the league., who’s available, who’s not, gauging interest in that. Obviously, a guy like ‘Bron, you probably call just to see. I don’t know what the depths of the conversation were but it was a nice little surprise for sure.”
The possibility of LeBron becoming a Warriors is ridiculous. James has been the primary antagonist for the Warriors throughout their dynasty. He led the Cavaliers to a 3-1 comeback to ruin their 73-9 season in 2016 after Curry beat him and an injured Cavaliers in 2015. The Warriors would win easy titles over LeBron in 2017 and 2018 due to the arrival of Kevin Durant.
LeBron and the Lakers eliminated them in the 2021 Play-In Tournament and then handed the Warriors their first Western series loss in 2023. All the major Warriors’ failures in the last decade have had LeBron linked to it. Acquiring him would be one of the greatest front-office victories in NBA history, but it wasn’t meant to be in the winter.
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