The basketball world went into a frenzy when rumors swirled about LeBron James potentially joining the Warriors during February's trade deadline. However, the excitement of fans dreaming of a LeBron-Stephen Curry duo was quickly dashed.
Months later, as more details about the rumored trade emerged, Kevin Garnett weighed in, drawing a comparison to the 2010-2011 season when Shaquille O'Neal was acquired by the Boston Celtics.
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were discussing the move that potentially brought LeBron James to San Francisco, pairing him up with long-time rival Steph Curry. Garnett revealed a few details of the potential move.
"The Lakers had a trade on the table to send LeBron to Golden State. They wanted Kuminga from Bron."
The Big Ticket further compared the now-shot-down move to the Celtics' acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal in 2010. Shaq was sharing the lineup with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Garnett, and Pierce to make it a star-studded roster.
"We played with Shaq. I don't give a f**k what's going on. Shaq was older, but he was still at as Shaq. If he don't get hurt, we win. He did enough for us, his presence.
Similar to the impact Shaq had on the Cs, LeBron's presence alone will benefit the Golden State Warriors.
"It don't even matter, it's the effect of Bron… If he can still lay the ball up, if he can still be in the layup line, if he can still put the jersey on… It's always active."
Had this trade gone down, the NBA world would've witnessed two of the best players of the current generation team up. With both players expressing their admiration for each other on numerous occasions and with their on-court chemistry at full display during the 2024 Olympics, they would've loved to share the locker room had it not been for Rich Paul.
All teams in the association long for LeBron James to be part of their roster. Apart from the simple fact that he's still one of the best players in the league at age 39, the addition of James to any roster would benefit the team in terms of popularity as well.
The Golden State Warriors would've loved to acquire James at the cost of Jonathan Kuminga, a few other role players, and draft picks. However, Rich Paul was the reason behind the move never gaining any real traction.
According to sources, Paul didn't want his star client to swap the glamorous life of LA for Northern California.
"Rich Paul was adamantly opposed to the idea of LeBron James swapping Southern California for Northern California…"
Additionally, Paul also was on the lookout for his client's best interest, preventing naysayers from criticizing him for playing for a fourth team in his career.
"Sources say Rich Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept — despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors' Joe Lacob and the Lakers' Jeanie Buss and Green's determination to lobby James to push for relocation to the Bay Area — largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career," Marc Stein wrote.
Paul might've shattered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch both these players share the locker room. However, it does seem as though he did the right thing. Had James won a title with the Warriors, naysayers would've attacked his legacy for requiring Curry to win championship #5.
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