After the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, the Warriors made waves after a report surfaced saying they tried to acquire Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James.
Alongside TNT’s “Inside the NBA” panel with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal before the 2024 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, James discussed the blockbuster rumor.
“It didn't go far at all,” James told Johnson, Barkley, Smith and O’Neal. “I actually heard about it when everybody else heard about it. Charles has been in the league, Kenny has been in the league, Shaq has been in the league, and sometimes, there's conversations that happen behind closed doors that you don't even know about until, I guess, if it's real or not, then they'll bring it to you.
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"But it never even got to me, so I heard it when the reports dropped as well.”
James acknowledged that he heard of the rumor but didn’t fully confirm its validity. His answer comes just days after Golden State guard Steph Curry offered his stance on the James-to-Warriors rumor train.
“It's always a surprise when stuff like that gets out,” Curry told reporters Wednesday. “Because I'm assuming that every team is making calls that if every fanbase or media group would know about it, it would normalize the conversations that happen in the front office, especially around the trade deadline when you're exploring around the league who's available and who's not.
"Obviously, a guy like Bron, you would probably call just to see. I don't know what the depths of the conversations were, but it was a nice little surprise this morning for sure."
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The idea of James suiting up for the Warriors’ home Chase Center crowd in San Francisco understandably is far-fetched.
Given the rivalry between James and the Warriors that has dominated the NBA playoffs and other primetime slots for a decade, it’s fair to assume the trade had no legs under it.
However, Warriors owner Joe Lacob, talking to Tim Kawakami on the “TK Show” last Wednesday, didn’t hesitate when explaining how Golden State always keeps its eyes open for upgrades -- by any means.
“As far as the reports, I’m not going to say anything about any specific player or anything,” Lacob told Kawakami. "I’m just going to tell you, you know, we’re aggressive and we’re looking at things all the time.
“When we acquired Kevin Durant many years ago, that was an incredibly aggressive move that we made. I think half our roster went away in order to accomplish [the deal]. Even though we had a really good team, we felt we could be better, and we [got better]. I tell Mike [Dunleavy Jr.] and Kirk [Lacob] Nothing is off the table -- nothing.”
While Curry and James weren’t too convinced by the rumors, one thing is certain: Lacob isn’t afraid to shoot his shot if it means Golden State can improve.