Furthermore, Mike Dunleavy Jr., the general manager of the Warriors, wasn’t the only NBA executive to try to sign James, 39, last week. Daryl Morey of Philadelphia also put up a bid for the Lakers captain. In addition to declining, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka reportedly responded by asking Morey if he would be open to trading the team’s current MVP, Joel Embiid, according to ESPN.
Additionally, it is said that Morey asked about Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant of the Suns; none of them were made available by Phoenix.
According to ESPN, Golden State owner Joe Lacob contacted Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who stated she was not interested in the transfer but wanted to give James a voice in it, because Draymond Green was in favor of it.
James’ agent and CEO of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul, reportedly told Lacob that his client was not interested in the transfer, thus Lacob didn’t get the response he was hoping for.
Because James and Curry faced one other in four straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018, NBA fans already had a strong emotional attachment to one another. Curry’s Warriors prevailed in three of the games, but in 2016, LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers shocked Golden State by rallying from a 3-1 lead.
James has since won a championship with the Lakers, and Curry won his fourth championship in 2022 when the Warriors upset the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
However, James and Curry are both out of the picture for the Western Conference playoffs this year. The Warriors are in 10th place at 26-25 as of Wednesday, while the Lakers are in ninth place at 29-26.
Even though James is getting close to 40 years old, he is still one of the best basketball players. In addition to scoring 24.8 points per game on average for the Lakers, he also records 7.8 assists per game and makes an amazing 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
