Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts in the second half of game five of the second round against the Houston Rockets of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Who will LeBron James play for during the 2026-27 NBA season, which is likely to be his last? That’s the question on everybody’s mind.
And we may well know James’s new team before anyone was actually supposed to know, thanks to an ESPN “Pardon The Interruption” podcast that was incorrectly labeled.
James began his time as a free agent, assessing all his options. But his list quickly shrunk to a handful of teams, then to three: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, and Philadelphia 76ers.
Several NBA executives indicated recently that it’s now down to just two: Golden State and Cleveland.
So, who will James ultimately pick?
ESPN Podcast Title Says Golden State Warriors Will Be LeBron James’s New Team
Warriors’ superstar Steph Curry appeared on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday and made his pitch to James to join him with Golden State.
“The Bay, we know how to win, beautiful weather, great golf… we just know how to play basketball, and I think that he would enjoy just the idea of what it means to finish your career the right way,” Curry said. “He knows what he wants, and he’ll eventually make that decision; it’s solely up to him. We’re having fun with it, knowing he’s got his pick of the entire league.”
Apparently, ESPN either believes that pitch landed, or it has information that the public does not.
did ESPN just leak LeBron to the Warriors?
today’s PTI episode has nothing to with Steph and LeBron but a producer labeled the podcast with this title???? pic.twitter.com/t4A7Qy9tI2
— Packrip Ewing (@PackripEwing) July 16, 2026
X user @PackripEwing shared a photo on Wednesday night that showed a “Pardon The Interruption” podcast titled, “Steph Curry Behind LeBron’s Stunning Warriors Decision?”
There are just two issues: LeBron hasn’t made a decision. At least, he hasn’t publicly. And the episode doesn’t actually discuss LeBron.
Perhaps ESPN knows and has pre-recorded an episode? Or perhaps it was an AI-generated title that misunderstood the content of the episode.
Either way, if James is going to Golden State and was waiting to announce the news, you have to imagine his camp won’t be very happy about this potential leak.