It’s yet another offseason for the Golden State Warriors in which there are rumors flying around about the team having interest in LeBron James. It may just be overblown speculation yet again, but if it comes true, then it may make head coach Steve Kerr regret coming back.
In Kerr’s press conference after deciding to sign a new deal with the Warriors that will keep him with the team for the next two seasons, he emphasized the need for the team to get younger and more durable. He spoke about what a challenge it was having to manage a roster with so many veteran players who often couldn’t play in back-to-back games.
Adding LeBron James would lead to talk of another Warriors title run
Bringing in 41-year-old James would not do anything to solve that problem. In fact, it would make things even worse. The Warriors would be older and slower and would probably end up in the same position they were in during this past regular season where injuries prevented them from being any sort of real threat.
If the Warriors did add James, they would have to counteract that by adding some other pieces. They do have the No. 11 pick in the NBA draft so that could get them an exciting young player, but they need to do more work to ensure they don’t just end up with a repeat of the 2025-26 season.
Not only would adding James equate to doubling down on an already old roster, it would bring expectations to next season that Kerr almost certainly doesn’t want to deal with. Even if it’s unfair, having Stephen Curry and James team up would lead to speculation that the Warriors could be a legitimate contender.
Kerr doesn’t want that sort of pressure at this point in his career. He fully recognizes the fact that the Warriors are, as he himself put it, a “fading dynasty.” When he decided to come back to the Warriors, he talked about setting the team up to succeed going forward. He didn’t come back for some desperate attempt at another ring which is what bringing James into the fold would amount to.
Kerr seems content to try to leave a legacy and lay a groundwork going forward for the team maybe in the same way that his mentor and friend Gregg Popovich did with the San Antonio Spurs before eventually handing over the keys.
Adding James would just run anathema to what Kerr has said about coming back and may make him wish that he had retired, rather than come back for something he didn’t sign up for.
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