Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Just imagine Stephen Curry and LeBron James together, in Golden State Warriors uniforms, collaboratively chasing the NBA championship and trying to extend the Warriors’ fading dynasty.
Joe Lacob reportedly tried to make it happen.
Lacob, the Warriors’ owner, reached out to his Lakers counterpart, Jeanie Buss, in the 24 hours ahead of last week’s trade deadline, according to an ESPN report Wednesday. Lacob called to “inquire whether James’ apparent public frustration could be interpreted as an opening to discuss a trade,” the story said.
Buss told Lacob the Lakers had no desire in relinquishing James. She also suggested Lacob call James’ agent, Rich Paul, for a better sense of James’ state of mind, according to the report.
Paul ultimately told Lacob and Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy that James had no interest in a trade and wanted to stay with the Lakers.
Warriors forward Draymond Green, who also is represented by Paul, also texted his agent in an attempt to persuade James to agree to a deal, according to the story. Green and James are good friends; they attended Sunday’s Super Bowl together in Las Vegas.
James created rampant speculation with his Jan. 30 post on Twitter of an hourglass emoji. That seemed to suggest the Lakers were running out of time to turn around their season, and perhaps that James was growing weary of waiting.
He posted that message after Los Angeles lost back-to-back games in Houston and Atlanta to fall under .500. The Lakers have since won six of seven games to improve to 30-26, putting them ninth in the Western Conference standings. The Warriors are 10th at 26-26.
Curry and James have been rivals for most of their careers. Their teams have met in the NBA Finals four times (2015-18), with the Warriors winning three of those matchups against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors and Lakers also played each other in last year’s Western Conference semifinals, with the Lakers prevailing in six games.
Curry was asked about the James story after Wednesday night’s loss to the Clippers.
“Obviously, with a guy like Bron, you probably call just to see,” Curry said. “I don’t know what the depths of those conversations were, but that was a nice little surprise this morning, for sure.”
Curry, who turns 36 next month, and James, 39, have grown closer over the years, often speaking publicly about their respect and admiration for each other. James lobbied Curry to play in the Olympics for the first time this summer in France, and Curry soon committed to join James on the U.S. team.
