Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry says he would love to play alongside LeBron James, but acknowledges the choice of where the NBA’s all time leading scorer plays next rests entirely with James himself.
“It’s kind of up to him,” Curry said of James’s decision on where to sign as a free agent for his 24th NBA season, speaking on 10 July. James informed the Los Angeles Lakers last week that he was leaving the franchise after eight seasons and a championship in Southern California.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Nevada, Curry said he believed any team James wanted to join would go to considerable lengths to accommodate him. “I feel like any place he calls and says I want to play there, you move mountains to make it happen,” he said.
Curry, who partnered James on the United States’ gold medal winning team at the Paris Olympics, said his own pitch to his former Olympic teammate was straightforward. “The pitch is, do you want to play good basketball and be around people that know how to play the game,” said Curry, whose Warriors met James’s Cleveland Cavaliers in four consecutive NBA Finals between 2015 and 2018. “We’re an organization that’s been there. He knows that. That’s really self explanatory. It’s a matter of where he sees himself fitting. At the end of the day, that’s up to him,” he said.
The Warriors are among several teams being linked as possible destinations for James, a four time NBA champion and four time Most Valuable Player. As speculation entered its second week, much of the attention had centred on a potential return to the Cavaliers, the team he led to the 2016 championship and his hometown franchise, having also previously won two titles with the Miami Heat. A reunion with the Heat has also been floated, along with a possible move to Philadelphia following the 76ers’ blockbuster trade for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown.
Cleveland strengthened its own hand this week by signing guard Donovan Mitchell to a maximum four year contract extension worth $273 million, with his continued presence potentially serving as an added incentive for James to return. Former MVP James Harden is also expected to re-sign with the Cavaliers as a free agent, though the structure of his deal may depend on James’s eventual decision.
James’s agent, Rich Paul, said on a podcast earlier in the week that as many as ten teams could be considered serious contenders for his client’s signature.
