Much has been made out of LeBron James' earlier statement about wanting to play with Stephen Curry. The hype isn't surprising at all considering how the Los Angeles Lakers superstar basically hinted at the possibility of teaming up with the greatest shooter of all time somewhere down the road.
As expected, this statement had the entire basketball world buzzing. The crew from ESPN's Get Up program chimed in on the matter and for his part, NBA insider Brian Windhorst pretty much killed the idea of LeBron and Curry on the same team. Steph recently signed a massive extension with the Warriors that should see him retire in Golden State. Windhorst also added that in his mind, it's just not going to be “functional” between these two if they became teammates.
What piqued Windhorst's interest, however, is the prospect of LeBron teaming up with Mavs superstar Luka Doncic in the future:
“I would say something else though,” Windhorst said. “As part of this answer, LeBron was having fun here to be clear. He wasn’t making a declarative statement. He talked about how much he admires Luka Doncic, and that is something that you should put in your back pocket.
“Don't ever judge LeBron a hundred percent on his words, judge him on his actions. The best way you can see how LeBron feels about people is who he drafts in his All-Star draft. He has drafted Luka Doncic all three years he’s been an All-Star. He tried to recruit Luka Doncic to his brand within Nike a few years ago. Luka picked the Jordan brand instead. He, I think, would also love to play with Luka.”
It's not just all about hearsay from Windhorst here. After all, he is one of the most respected NBA insiders in the industry. The ESPN analyst brings up an excellent point about LeBron's affinity towards Doncic. In his mind, this potential partnership has more legs than that of a LeBron-Curry duo.
“In the fantasy world, to use Steph Curry's words, if you want to enter the fantasy realm, that is something I think is more worthy of having a discussion about as opposed to Steph,” Windhorst said. “[This is going to be] down the line — I don't think LeBron's going anywhere in the short term.”
.@WindhorstESPN says to keep the idea of LeBron and Luka teaming up in your back pocket 👀
"The best way you can see how LeBron feels about people is who he drafts in his All-Star draft. … He's drafted Luka Doncic all three years he's been an All-Star." pic.twitter.com/L5l9KIReSj
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 7, 2022
Naturally, Twitter went a bit crazy over this idea. Windhorst's colleague in ESPN, Tim MacMahon, added more fuel to the flame by pointing out how LeBron also happens to have a relationship with Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, who served as an assistant coach with the Lakers for a couple of years, as well as ex-LA teammate Jared Dudley, who is now also part of the Mavs coaching staff:
Two other guys LeBron loves: Jason Kidd and Jared Dudley
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 7, 2022
NBA icon Vince Carter was also part of the panel discussion and he too had some things to say about all this. For his part, however, Carter is more focused on how he believes LeBron is being tone-deaf with his statements here. The Lakers literally just got eliminated from playoff contention and already, James is talking about players on opposing teams:
“That's the alarming part of it right there,” Carter said. “He's already on the next thing. I mean, he's talking about guys he'd like to play with instead of fixing the current issue on his team.”
Carter also isn't sold on the potential backcourt partnership of LeBron and Luka. The former eight-time All-Star was quick to point out how ball-dominant these two stars are. Carter's case in point is how Russell Westbrook struggled to play alongside LeBron this season with the Lakers. Carter then questioned LeBron's willingness to take a step back if he were to link up with Luka (or Steph):
“Are you willing to sacrifice a little bit for the good of Luka Doncic or Steph Curry and allow those guys to still be the stars because LeBron is used to having the ball in his hand a lot as well,” Carter said. “So that's just something to consider because you've seen guys come in there and didn't play well because they don't have the ball in their hand because LeBron likes to dictate how things work.”
As Windhorst said, however, this is a matter that is going to be a concern a year or so from today. Right now, LeBron and the Lakers have more pressing matters at hand. LA needs to do something this offseason to significantly improve their roster around James, and there's no denying that The King will be heavily involved in all this.
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