© Robert Hanashiro | 2021 Jan 18
Remember when the Kevin Durant-led-Warriors were supposedly recruiting LeBron James? Apparently the shoe’s on the other foot.
In a fairly shocking report by the ultra plugged in Brian Windhorst of ESPN, James has already begun recruiting the two-time MVP, in the hopes that Curry will decline an extension from the Warriors, and hit free agency in 2022.
“I thought it was hilarious over All-Star Weekend, LeBron praising Steph up and down … how much he loves his game, how much he respects him,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast. “LeBron has obviously put the full-court press on, not the full-court press, but LeBron has obviously begun the recruiting of Steph, just in the event that he wouldn’t extend and that somehow he would become a free agent and that the Lakers would have a swing at him.”
Windhorst’s co-hosts, Bay Area reporters Nick Fridell and Marcus J. Spears, said that Curry, 33, has almost no-chance of ever leaving Golden State, and that the Warriors would offer him an extension even if he was relegated to sitting in a chair and shooting threes. Curry’s current max deal runs through the end of next season, and he’s eligible for a max extension this summer.
Windhorst said LeBron feels there’s “some doubt” about whether Curry wants to remain with the Warriors after his contract expires. That may not be true in actuality, but there is no harm in James trying to recruit him. After all, he’s been highly successful recruiting stars to play with him in the very recent past.
