Jake Fischer wrote for The Stein Line on Tuesday that it is still "widely believed" that the Los Angeles Lakers are the team LeBron James will stay with if he continues playing, but that the Warriors are "legitimately interested" in swaying the 41-year-old to do otherwise (subscription required). Playing alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green is quite the allure, but Golden State is thinking deeper than that, as Fischer reported:
Yet league sources maintain that Golden State remains legitimately interested in adding LeBron to their Stephen Curry/Jimmy Butler/Draymond Green core coached by Steve Kerr ... with the pitch presumed to include the idea that LeBron could commute from Los Angeles to some TBD degree without having to move his family.
LeBron's family factors into the decision about his future more than anything else, which plays in the Lakers' favor. If he stayed in Los Angeles, he wouldn't have to worry about missing out on spending his free time with his family. He would get to stay with Bronny, who is under contract for at least one more season, and wouldn't be far from his other son, Bryce, who attends the University of Arizona.
The thing is, making the temporary move to San Francisco shouldn't throw things off for LeBron and his family that much.
Warriors are thinking about what means most to LeBron — his family
It's not surprising at all that Golden State is willing to work with LeBron on his family, allowing him to commute from LA to San Francisco. Who knows the specifics of what that would look like (taking on Bronny?), but the flight is around an hour and a half. That's not bad.
The Warriors already have a reputation for encouraging a healthy work-life balance, or as close to that as you can get in the NBA. They don't just support their players, but their families, too, with DeMarcus Cousins specifically citing that reason as why Golden State is a top organization in the league.
The Lakers should still have the upper hand because LeBron wouldn't have to worry about spending more time away from his family than he already does. However, the Warriors' willingness to make that as little of an issue as possible for him could end up mattering more than you think.
Fischer wrote that James returning to Cleveland is "harder to envision" because of the long distance from LA, but that's not the case with Golden State.
Knowing LeBron, if he returns for another season, he will make the time to weigh all of his options. The idea of teaming up with Curry and Green is already enticing, but knowing he wouldn't have to be all that far from his family to make it happen could be what seals the deal for the Warriors. Or at least, that's what they're hoping.
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