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Would LeBron and Anthony Davis on the Warriors work? Who knows, but we’d all watch

Maybe no one really asked for this 2019 super team to form in 2026, but you wouldn't be able to turn away from it either. Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images

By Marcus Thompson IIJune 29, 2026 8:18 pm EDT Updated

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Strong enough to convince us our childhood tasted better. That summers lasted longer. That music struck deeper chords. That the people we admired were larger than life. Fond memories have a funny way of sanding down rough edges until all that’s left is smooth.

Sports might be the biggest dealer of nostalgia. The NBA a kingpin.

Every basketball fan has a version of the past they keep folded in their pocket, ready to pull out whenever the present threatens to diminish their passions. Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. They remain dear because our relevance is tied to theirs. They are evidence of the significance of our respective eras.

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So when the whispers emerge of the Golden State Warriors uniting Stephen Curry and LeBron James, with Anthony Davis and Draymond Green, logic barely gets space to breathe. The difficulty of the deal is one hurdle, making it a long shot. The potential for combustibility makes it feel like a risky endeavor.

But nostalgia? It stirs up intrigue and makes one wonder: What if?

What if Curry’s gravity is the magic sauce to make this work? What if LeBron, perhaps feeling disrespected by the Los Angeles Lakers, is extra motivated for one last mountain to climb? What if Davis and Green lighten each other’s workload?

What if, somehow, miraculously, they are all healthy come April, ready to take on the new generation of stars?

Excuse the lot of us who find the concept tantalizing. Those of us who choose to use their most recent stretches of production as evidence of what remains possible. All of them have scratched the surface of their greatness recently enough to dream.

So go ahead. Get the jokes off. Including Al Horford, who re-signed Friday, the Warriors could have an opening night starting five with an average age of 37.6. Including Kristaps Porziņġis, who re-signed Monday, the Warriors’ potential top six players missed a total of 224 games last season. The culture would be well within its right to call them N.W.AARP or the Salt & Pepper Steppers.

But, maaaan, if they take the court together. Their individual peaks are astronomical enough to imagine the brilliance they could concoct together.

At this point, it remains a long shot. For starters, the Warriors love Jimmy Butler — whose $56.8 million salary would have to be traded in this scenario. From what I’m told, it would take something like this to trade Butler, who just flew in for the Warriors’ fancy introduction of their new jersey badge as part of a partnership with IREN.

And the Warriors could be mere pawns in a leverage play that gets LeBron and Davis paid by their incumbent teams.

A team with Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry and LeBron James would have some incredible flashes. And that’s reason enough to get nostalgic. (Christina Pahnke – sampics / Getty Images)

But Golden State is definitely open to the possibility. They don’t have many options for significant upgrades. So Mike Dunleavy, Golden State’s head basketball honcho, is vetting what’s possible. Whether they can get Davis and his $58.5 million salary is really up to the Washington Wizards. They could keep him, trade him in February, or sign him to the massive extension he wants. They have options, which means they’d have to really want what the Warriors offer — Butler’s expiring contract.

Would the Warriors do this if it requires sweeteners to Washington, such as a first-round pick? That’s the question they might have to answer.

But Green opting out of his contract was the first step in making this happen. And something we do know is Joe Lacob loves this type of splash, the big move that changes the dynamic and puts the spotlight on Golden State in the process. So, maybe they sacrifice a future pick for a super team — from 2019.

It’s a real enough scenario to visualize.

It’s also a real enough scenario to conjure a disappointing end. Three or four of them glued to the bench in fine garb, leaving one or two stars expending themselves trying to keep hope alive with a patchwork supporting cast. Or them fighting to get a playoff spot only for Oklahoma City or San Antonio to run circles around them, reminding everyone the NBA is a young man’s league.

We’ve seen similar efforts to coalesce former greats. Teams trying to rekindle old glory is a pastime.

Some worked out pretty well, like Charles Barkley and Clyde Drexler, both into their 30s, joining Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston. They almost made the NBA Finals, if not for John Stockton. Some didn’t work so well, like the super team created when Dwight Howard and Steve Nash joined Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the Lakers. It was supposed to break the league, but Nash’s back broke that hope.

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What’s interesting about the Warriors’ potential additions is it could go either way. Sure, we haven’t seen figures this advanced in age team up since Sylvester Stallone joined forces with Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes and Jet Li to illustrate the healing powers of stretching. And CGI. This potential merging of legends might require load management on a scale we’ve never seen.

But it would also be the most skilled, intelligent, experienced and fit collection of old heads we’ve ever seen. It is unknown how many aging ligaments and tendons the Warriors’ renowned performance guru Rick Celebrini can handle simultaneously. But it would be fun to find out.

Either way, we’ll get to see a last ride from players who’ve delivered some of the best moments of a generation. A pyrotechnic display of timeless greatness. Or a feeble fade into finality. The potential of the former outweighs the risk of the latter.

Because we’ll appreciate every moment knowing it might be the last. Because they’ll give us fresh reminders of who they are, and how great they were. We’ll have 4K evidence for future fealty as new GOATs emerge.

This could be a riveting way to go out. A final sequel no one asked for but everyone would watch. Arenas would buzz when Golden State came to town. Every national television executive would want that collection of names on their marquee. The young superstars would circle the date against the legends they grew up on, either to prove their day has passed or to avoid getting worked by gray beards.