NBA coach says LeBron should join Warriors instead of Cavs next season

This season could very well be star forward LeBron James’ last playing for the iconic Los Angeles Lakers franchise. His contract is set to expire after the 2025-26 campaign, and he could retire from the NBA or sign with another one of the league’s 30 teams in the summer of 2026.

One team that’s been frequently floated as a potential destination for James if he opts to continue his career past this season has been the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, an anonymous NBA assistant coach thinks that James would be better off trying to land with the Golden State Warriors.

“If I’m him, I’m either going somewhere else where I’ve always played or I’m hanging it up after the season,” the assistant coach said, per RG.org. “If I can’t find a place to do my thing, I’m hanging it up. What’s the point? Everyone says he should go to Cleveland. I don’t think he should do that. He should try to go to Golden State next season. Those guys pass the ball like crazy, and that fits his style of play. He could still be so effective with his passing and playing with other players that know how to play. Playing alongside Luka [Doncic] is not suitable for that. He just dominates the ball. Then he makes all the plays. But it doesn’t seem like LeBron has anything left to prove.”

Neither the Cavaliers nor Warriors have played particularly inspiring basketball in the 2025-26 season so far. As of this writing, the former holds a record of just 18-16 after losing just 18 games all of last season, while the latter owns an identical record and hasn’t done enough winning to stand out in a loaded Western Conference.

So, on paper, it might seem as if neither team stands out as a particularly attractive destination for James. But there’s actually a concrete argument as to why it would make more sense for him to join the Warriors in the summer.

Namely, the Warriors are headed by a trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, all of whom have experience winning at a high level. Green and Curry are four-time champions while Butler has played in two NBA Finals.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers are lacking proven playoff performers outside of star guard Donovan Mitchell, and they have shown a disturbing trend of flaming out early on in the playoffs in recent years.

James might be able to help the Cavs in that regard, but at this stage of his career, he may be looking to avoid that type of experiment. Even if it’s been multiple years since Curry and Green last won a championship and Butler last played in the Finals, at least they have history playing on the NBA’s grandest stage.

Not a single member of Cleveland’s “core four” has sniffed the NBA Finals. Should James have at least one more season in the tank after this one, maybe he will follow the anonymous assistant coach’s advice and try to join the Warriors.