The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title four years ago. Since then, they have a regular season record of 148-144.
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA title two years ago. Since then, they have a regular season record of 71-64.
In his first five full seasons as a Laker, LeBron James has led Los Angeles to six playoff series victories. In the previous five years, he led his teams to 16 series wins.
In the last four postseasons, Stephen Curry and the Warriors have won five series. The previous four years, Curry led them to 14 series wins.
These facts make last week's story by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne about Golden State contacting the Lakers about a potential James trade more revealing. The move implied that the Warriors weren't sure they had enough for another championship run, and I suspected James might think the Lakers didn't have it either.
It was just another sign that both teams, as currently constructed, are probably past their best moments. They have been, charitably speaking, performing slightly above average for some time now. When you look at the Western Conference standings, where the Lakers are in ninth place and the Warriors are in 10th, you could even consider them underdogs.
But when it comes to the Lakers and Warriors, it can be easy to get ahead considering the odds and the long odds. James and Curry have done it before and always seem to believe they can do it again, whether reality agrees or not.
So both teams continue their Thursday showdown in San Francisco, a game James will miss due to tendinopathy in his left ankle, as they fight to avoid a potential clash in April's play-in tournament.
Such a matchup would be tempting in a one-game elimination situation. With so much at stake in the offseason and the precious final stages of Curry and James' careers, it would be the most important play-in game since… the last time they met in the play-in three years ago.
The Lakers held firm at the trade deadline, at the risk of irritating James, in part because they wanted to protect their summer trade options. By June, the Lakers will be allowed to trade up to three first-round picks and some of their players' contracts will be a season shorter, making them more attractive in potential deals. There are already some expectations, no matter how the season ends, the Lakers could try to trade for a big-name player.
Of course, there is also the James situation. For the first time since 2018, he has the option to become an unrestricted free agent. Although he has made it clear that he prefers to stay in Los Angeles and that the Lakers could give him another nine-figure deal that would take him into his 40s, he has repeatedly suggested that he will leave his options open.
The Warriors also face some tough decisions. Head coach Steve Kerr and veteran guards Klay Thompson and Chris Paul can be free agents this summer, and third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga, in the midst of a breakout season, is eligible for an extension. The Warriors, after paying $350 million in combined salary and luxury tax last season and nearly $400 million this season, are hinting they will finally try to cut costs. Owner Joe Lacob said on “The TK Show” podcast last week that the team plans to exit the tax entirely by next season, leaving the legacy roster in doubt.
These two big-market, big-brand teams loaded with future Hall of Famers remain at the center of the NBA's consciousness. They cannot be ignored for their talent, as both produced surprises in the playoffs last season.
In their only meeting so far this season, on January 27 at the Chase Center, they produced one of the best games the league has seen this year. And one of the most memorable games of the long rivalry between James and Curry.
The Lakers won 145-144 in double overtime. Curry tore his shirt in frustration as he got off the court after his 46 points weren't enough. James, as is his custom, looked at it with perspective, imagining telling his future grandchildren about his triple-double of 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists, including the winning free throw.
“I hope it can be great when my grandchildren [are] at that time,” James said, referring to the matchup with Curry, who James knows is popular with younger fans.
“You look forward to the battles,” Curry said after the game, “but you also appreciate the mutual respect of what it takes to continue doing what you're doing at this level.”
They are not the only ones who appreciate it.
The game was one of the highest-rated non-Christmas regular-season games in the past five years, averaging four million viewers and peaking at 5.24 million, according to Nielsen.
Last spring, Game 1 of the Laker-Warriors playoff series drew 7.3 million viewers, the largest cable audience for the first rounds of the NBA playoffs in 11 years.
The two teams come out of the All-Star break tied in the loss column with three regular-season games left between them, making the matchups doubly important and leaving the potentially valuable tiebreaker uncertain.
This isn't the same era in which Curry and James met in four consecutive NBA Finals, but neither has given up. Thanks to an offensive tear, the Lakers won eight of their last 11 games and averaged 126 points in that stretch. That's his most prolific offensive performance in an 11-game span since the “Showtime” Lakers in 1987, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Warriors have gone 8-2 since that frustrating loss to the Lakers on Jan. 27, a night Kerr vowed his team would turn its season around after seeing progress in that game. Kerr subsequently made a big move by benching Thompson at the end of some close games before removing him from the starting lineup before the All-Star break.
Kerr has leaned on a starting lineup with rookie guard Brandin Podziemski and Kuminga, neither of whom were starters to start the season.
It's a lot of facets and perceived excitement for two teams that could easily be in the midst of failed seasons. Both have expensive rosters built around aging stars, and their failures have repeatedly cost them winnable games. Lakers coach Darvin Ham has been criticized (although he enjoys solid support from the front office, team sources said) at times this season.
And Kerr's contract status leaves his future in doubt. With Monty Williams, Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich taking turns resetting the ceiling on coaches' salaries over the past nine months, keeping Kerr will be very expensive for a team that openly talks about cutting costs.
These are the foundations that are being laid for the summer. Fans will be following the Lakers and Warriors closely the rest of the season. When it's over, league rivals will be close behind.
