Stephen Curry reveals pursuit of LeBron James. Image via: Getty Images
So when James said he was leaving the Lakers, Curry made his pitch to him directly, Fadeaway World reported.
Stephen Curry tried to recruit LeBron James this summer, and he has now said so out loud. The two-time MVP did not dodge the question or dress it up. His answer was blunt, short and hard to argue with. Stephen Curry and LeBron James have been linked for more than a decade as the faces of the NBA , and they met in four straight Finals. Heavy noted it is the first time Curry has spoken in public about his part in the chase.
He averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds on 51.5 percent shooting last season, per that report. It was also reported that Anthony Davis was the name who could have tempted James, but the Wizards showed no interest in trading him.
“If anybody didn’t [try to recruit him], I think they’d be a fool,” he said in comments carried by NBC Sports Bay Area. “It was a good time for the NBA, obviously with a guy of his stature, his notoriety, to be in that position where he got to choose where he wanted to go,” Curry added. Nobody outside those conversations knows what Curry told him. The same piece said Curry felt the chase was worth it even if it cost the Warriors some roster flexibility. “I want to be a lifer with Golden State,” he said recently.
His reasoning was simple. He also called it a good moment for the league, with a player of James’ stature free to pick his next home. Curry was not alone. About half the league went after James, and many teams made private pitches of their own. James had earned the attention. Questions about Curry’s knee may have played a part, and that James would only have teamed up with him somewhere other than Golden State. The Warriors made no bold move to change the roster. Draymond Green’s friendship with James was the one other card Golden State held, Heavy noted, and Green and Curry together could not sell him on the team around them. Curry has no plan to follow James into free agency. Asked whether the idea appealed after watching James go through it, the two-time MVP shut it down. James, by comparison, has played for four teams: the Cavaliers, Heat, Lakers and now the Sixers.