LeBron James has started ‘recruiting’ Steph Curry

LeBron James and Stephen Curry wearing the same uniform? Now that would be a dream team — emphasis on dream.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has been covering James since the four-time MVP was in high school, floated the possibility as he pointed to James praising Curry at this month’s NBA All-Star Game as the start of his recruitment.

Watch Live coverage every week of the NBA Regular Season with ESPN on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

“I thought it was hilarious, over All-Star weekend, LeBron praising Steph up one side and down the other, how much he loves his game, how much he respects him,” Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast.

“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 the Lakers would have a swing at him.”

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.Source:AFP

ESPN’s Warriors reporter, Nick Friedell, was quick to shoot down the idea on the podcast. Curry did not sign a contract extension before the season, which currently means he could become a free agent in 2022, but delaying the extension also makes him eligible to sign an even bigger deal with the Warriors this summer.

“He’s gonna sign,” Friedell said. “There’s no way that Steph — who has only ever said he wants to stay with the Warriors his whole career, and who has only ever said, ‘I can’t wait to play with Klay (Thompson) again, it’s going to be great, and Draymond (Green is) still rolling through either the end of his prime or towards that other stage at a different point in his career’ — that Steph is suddenly going to walk away.

“Steph is at least gonna sign the extension with the Warriors. Now, what happens a few years from now? We’ll see, because I don’t like what I’m seeing from the Warriors right now. … (But) Steph is staying with the Warriors, you can bank on that.”

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.Source:Getty Images

Neither player is a stranger to a super team. James is currently on one with Anthony Davis as the Lakers try to chase a second straight championship. Curry has won titles with Thompson, Green and Kevin Durant, even though the Warriors are now middling with Durant in Brooklyn and Thompson injured for the second straight season.

But until Curry signs the extension to remain a Warrior, the speculation may continue.

“I just want to point out, LeBron thinks there’s some doubt,” Windhorst said. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be doing this.”

Friedell reiterated: “Steph is not going to leave. Not right now. He’s not going to leave.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Source: Read Full Article