LeBron James is exploring free agency for the first time in years, and Golden State is legitimately interested. From 2015-2018, they competed against one another in the NBA Finals. They made the rivalry interesting, two kids from Akron. Now with both players at the tail-end of their trophy-laden careers, fans have begun wondering what it would look like if both LA Lakers star LeBron James and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry stopped being rivals and started winning together.

Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area on Thursday threw more light on the rumors linking James with a move to the Warriors on the 95.7 The Game Podcast:

“Obviously, people look at what the Warriors can’t pay him like the Lakers can, which is true,” Poole asserted in a conversation on the podcast. “Okay, start there. Why would he go to a place where he’s going to get paid 15 million dollars? My response to that is that, well, I don’t think at this stage of his career, LeBron is motivated by money. I don’t think that’s his primary reason to keep playing because he’s a billionaire with a B. So I think he’s playing for other reasons, family being one of them, obviously.”

Poole cited a source who entertained the possibility of LeBron James joining the Warriors, keeping alive the idea of pairing him with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The reporting stopped short of saying a deal is likely, but it suggested Golden State remains a legitimate suitor if James seriously explores free agency. This follows multiple recent reports from Marc Stein and Bay Area outlets that the Warriors are “legitimately interested” in adding James to a veteran core that already includes Curry, Green, and Jimmy Butler.

“I think for LeBron, he likes a challenge, he added. “And I think he can look at this. We tried it with Austin Reaves and Luka. We had some issues there. At times, it looked okay. At times, it didn’t look okay. But in the end, Luka gets hurt, and they’re done. They’re turning the team over to Luka. It’s not his team anymore. And it’s not that he’d be his team if he comes to Golden State. So I think there are, I guess, more different kinds of reasons that would make him think about this. And one of them is competition. And two, he’d be playing with some guys he really respects and other veterans like Jimmy, Steph, and Draymond. And I think for LeBron at this stage of his career, I think he would at least consider doing that for those reasons.”

The Warriors have displayed a pattern of chasing after big names to pair with Curry in recent years. Both Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis were trade-deadline acquisitions in back-to-back seasons to strengthen the roster. James would be the latest and the biggest name to become a part of the list.

This context explains why the Warriors’ interest, once unthinkable, now feels plausible. Three shifts made this possible: LeBron’s free-agent status, the Lakers’ pivot to Luka, and the Warriors’ 2024 interest, when they tried to acquire him at the trade deadline.

At 41, James is still a valuable player. Over the 2025-26 season, he played well in a third-option role to LA’s star backcourt and showed that he can scale up when required, especially in the playoffs. James led the Lakers to a first-round win against the favored Houston Rockets despite missing Doncic for the entire series and Austin Reaves being severely hampered when he played.

When the Lakers acquired Luka, they effectively secured the next decade. It’s natural for the Lakers to prioritize a 27-year-old superstar over a 41-year-old legend. The basketball hierarchy at Crypto.com shifted from LeBron’s arena to Luka’s, and the keys have officially been handed over in the 2025-26 season. Doncic even helped bring in key free agents Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton, highlighting him as the new face of the team.

That doesn’t necessarily mean LeBron is unhappy. By most accounts, he and Luka played well together and enjoyed success. But it does mean LeBron James no longer controls the organizational timeline the way he once did. For LeBron, who controlled every Lakers move since 2019, losing veto power over roster decisions marks an unprecedented shift.

Interestingly, some Warriors observers have argued that Golden State’s hierarchy could actually be cleaner for LeBron. Curry would be the unquestioned face of the franchise, allowing King James to focus purely on winning rather than carrying the organizational burden.

What’s Next for LeBron James?

The biggest obstacle to the four-time champion moving to the Bay Area is money. Almost every serious report notes that joining Golden State would likely require a substantial pay cut or a complicated sign-and-trade structure. The Warriors also face luxury-tax concerns, apron restrictions, roster depth issues, and age concerns around a Curry-LeBron-Butler core.

The Cavaliers remain in speculation due to the storybook appeal of LeBron’s return. A final season where LeBron returns to the franchise that drafted him would be one of the biggest stories in NBA history. However, financial limitations, again, and roster complications make this harder than fans realize. Reports have characterized Cleveland as a distant possibility compared to the Lakers or Warriors.  

 There’s one more card on the table, and it’s not what most want to hear: retirement. LeBron himself recently hinted that retirement is no longer some distant concept, and that the decision will come when he no longer enjoys the preparation, practices, and daily work required to compete. Most league observers still expect him to play at least one more season, but for the first time, retirement is being discussed as a genuine possibility rather than a hypothetical.