{"id":753384,"date":"2026-07-09T22:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/753384\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T22:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:06:16","slug":"steph-curry-acknowledges-appeal-of-playing-with-lebron-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/753384\/","title":{"rendered":"Steph Curry acknowledges appeal of playing with LeBron James"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">STATELINE, Nevada &#8212; As the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/gs\/golden-state-warriors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> front office actively pursues unrestricted free agent <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/1966\/lebron-james\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LeBron James<\/a>, the face of the franchise, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3975\/stephen-curry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stephen Curry<\/a>, acknowledged the appeal of a late-career Hall of Fame team up with his long-time NBA rival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Up until probably two, three years ago, that was like a pipedream question or even a thought,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;But that&#8217;s part of the allure. Him going into his 24th season, me going into my 18th, the battles we&#8217;ve had, that would be such a unique story in NBA history, in sports history. But a little premature right now to talk about it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Curry is at Edgewood Tahoe golf course in Stateline, Nevada this weekend, competing against a group of sports stars and celebrities as one of the favorites in the American Century Championship, an event he won in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In advance, Curry held a press availability on Thursday afternoon, anticipating and receiving a flood of questions in relation to the Warriors&#8217; ongoing pursuit of James.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Stay out of my personal business,&#8221; Curry joked after a specific question about their recent communication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Curry and James have talked in the last week, league sources confirmed, mostly through text message. Curry&#8217;s longtime teammate, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/6589\/draymond-green\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Draymond Green<\/a>, is currently vacationing with James in Puerto Rico and was spotted on the golf course with him Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since the early hours of free agency, Warriors sources have maintained a low level of optimism in regard to their chances of ultimately convincing James to join them, primarily acknowledging the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/cle\/cleveland-cavaliers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> as a suitor that&#8217;d be difficult to beat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But their advantage is the mutual respect and friendship that James has with Curry and Green and the relaxed, veteran-friendly environment created by both of them along with head coach Steve Kerr, who coached James and Curry together in the 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a percentage,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;It&#8217;s kinda up to him. I feel like any place he calls and says I want to play there, you move mountains to make it happen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Warriors could theoretically improve their chances if they used their draft picks and executed a trade to bolster their roster before James makes his choice, but team sources have only said they plan to keep roster room and a bit of financial flexibility for James until he is ready to declare his next NBA home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The pitch is: Do you want to play good basketball and be around people that know how to play the game?&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;Hopefully raise our floor and our competitiveness this year. There&#8217;s good golf in the Bay. We&#8217;re an organization that&#8217;s been there. He knows that. That&#8217;s really self-explanatory. It&#8217;s a matter of where he sees himself fitting. At the end of the day, that&#8217;s up to him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">If James declines to come to the Warriors, they mostly profile as an aging 37-45 team that is opting to run it back. They&#8217;ve re-signed <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3102531\/kristaps-porzingis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3213\/al-horford\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Al Horford<\/a> and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4066436\/deanthony-melton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">De&#8217;Anthony Melton<\/a> in free agency and are expected to re-sign Green, who opted out of his player option to give the Warriors temporary flexibility to chase James.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Is Curry comfortable if the roster is stable and James doesn&#8217;t join?<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I mean, it&#8217;s to be determined,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what free agency is about. LeBron&#8217;s in a situation where the league is waiting. It&#8217;s great to get KP back, great to get Melt back. We&#8217;re in a unique situation where Jimmy (Butler) is hurt, Moses (Moody) is hurt and they&#8217;re going to miss a good amount of the season. You have to try to hold the fort down until those guys get back because we do have an idea of what we could be with them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Warriors did make a transaction on Thursday afternoon, adding backup center <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4397886\/charles-bassey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Charles Bassey<\/a> on a one-year contract, giving them a young energy big to absorb regular season minutes after losing reserve center <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4593016\/quinten-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Quinten Post<\/a> to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/mem\/memphis-grizzlies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Memphis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Bassey fills the 11th slot on the Warriors&#8217; roster. It&#8217;s anticipated that Green will eventually fill the 12th spot and there is mutual interest, league sources said, in bringing <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3134903\/gary-payton-ii\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Gary Payton II<\/a> back.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATELINE, Nevada &#8212; As the Golden State Warriors front office actively pursues unrestricted free agent LeBron James, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[323008,68814,352,2243,67919,355,3,99],"class_list":["post-753384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-323008","tag-curry-stephen","tag-espn","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-james-lebron","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}