Prior to last season’s trade deadline, NBA insiders made a startling revelation when they reported that the Golden State Warriors wanted to make a trade for Los Angeles Lakers megastar LeBron James. The conversations had actually gotten deep enough for there to be dialogue between owners and agents.
However, according to The Stein Line’s Marc Stein, Klutch CEO Rich Paul —James’s longtime agent —“implored both teams to scrap the concept — despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors’ Joe Lacob and the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss and (Draymond) Green’s determination to lobby James to push for relocation to the Bay Area — largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career.”
If true, Paul —who takes a holistic view of his client’s careers —may have made yet another shrewd decision.
Rich Paul’s Motive For Nixing LeBron James, Warriors Trade
James has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers in his storied career.
That’s more teams than all-time adversary Michael Jordan, who played for the Chicago Bulls in 13 of his 15 career seasons. The other player regularly mentioned in the GOAT conversation —Kareem Abdul-Jabbar —also played for two teams. Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry, arguably the two greatest players of the 2000s not named LeBron, have only had one NBA home. All of that is to say that while switching teams to is more commonplace for stars in this era, there’s a thought that players of a certain caliber should be willing to stick with one franchise.
Indeed, that’s one of the primary reasons that Kevin Durant isn’t painted in a better light.
A once in a lifetime talent, Durant’s played for four teams in his NBA career. He’s played for three teams since 2016 alone. As a result, while he’s still regarded as an all-time great, he’s one of the most highly criticized. More of a mercenary than mainstay, millions of people believe he takes the easy way out to win.
The backlash that Durant faces has become so constant that the superstar has turned heel. At any moment, he’s liable to lash out against NBA fans on Twitter.
Perception Is Reality
If James were to leave the Lakers, it may not devolve into a Durant-esque situation. However, if he were to leave L.A. to join Golden State specifically, it would have been. Though NBA rivalries are often deeper for fans than players, perception often becomes reality.
To that point, Curry and the Warriors are widely considered to be James’s archrivals. This is primarily due to his battles against the Warriors in the NBA Finals, James going 1-3 against Golden State. On top of that, a significant number of fans believe Curry is the most influential player of this generation.
James definitely has more hardware in his trophy case. Nonetheless, Curry’s style and skillset have dramatically changed the way the game is played.
Teaming up with Curry and Co. would be like Drake joining forces with Kendrick Lamar. It’s one thing for it to happen in the Olympics, on a team that’s supposed to feature the best hoopers the U.S. has to offer. It’s a different matter entirely for it to happen in the NBA, where the two are jostling for supremacy whether they want to or not.
