It was a glorious thing to watch — LeBron James and Stephen Curry competing together to win gold at the Paris Olympics.
LeBron was the deserving Olympics MVP, the tone-setter and primary shot-creator for the Americans, averaging 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in less than 25 minutes a game. Curry started the Paris Olympics slowly, but when it mattered most in the clutch moments of medal round games against Serbia and France, he did what only he could do.
That left fans wanting more and some clamoring for a Curry and LeBron reunion in the NBA. Curry was asked about that in a wide-ranging interview with Natasha Dye of People.
“All the battles we’ve had on the court and the back and forth, the fact that we actually got to be teammates, not just in any game like an All-Star game or whatever, but in high stakes basketball with a lot on the line… I think there’s a deepened respect and friendship there…
“Hopefully, there will be more experiences in the future, even if we’re teammates or not,” he adds, noting that the two basketball greats “still have to compete against each other until it’s all over” when they return to their respective NBA teams for a new season in October.
Both Curry and LeBron inked extensions with their current teams this summer, keeping LeBron in Los Angeles for another year (at least, he has a player option after next season) and Curry in San Francisco for three more years.
Consider that a sign that LeBron and Curry are not teaming up in the NBA.
Both men are settled and have said they want to retire wearing the uniform they have on right now. Last season around the trade deadline, Warriors ownership and management made a push to see if they could get LeBron to come to the Bay Area, but that reportedly never got past LeBron’s agent Rich Paul. On a purely practical level, LeBron is the face of the Lakers franchise right now and the man who puts butts in seats, gets sponsors to sign on with the club, and has fans tuning into their cable broadcasts — LeBron makes the franchise too much money for them to consider trading him. The same is true of Curry in Golden State. The only way the trade is even considered is if LeBron or Curry demand it. Neither would do that right now, and even if they did the trade cost of making the move would so gut the roster of the team that lands both it would be the two stars against the world with not enough talent around them to win (the situation both already face).
It would be fun to have LeBron and Curry competing together again for something meaningful, and we will always have the memories of Paris. But the duo reprising their role as teammates, this time in the NBA, is just not happening.
