The Golden State Warriors reportedly tried to lure Anthony Davis to secure LeBron James’ signature. But the Washington Wizards’ front office poured cold water on those plans. Since then, there haven’t been any major updates. But now, a strategic change in Steve Kerr’s staff has reignited Bay Area hopes.

The saga began when insider Marc Stein revealed that Frank Vogel is “poised” to join Kerr’s coaching staff. Hours later, Shams Charania reported that it was a done deal, with Vogel set to be the associate head coach. The 53-year-old has been part of coaching setups for more than 2 decades and has 12 years of head-coaching experience. The perceived hidden factor in this hiring, however, relates to his most notable NBA achievement.

Vogel won the championship with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in 2020 in Purple and Gold. It came after an impressive 52-19 regular season. There is a connection there because, even after Vogel’s unceremonious exit from LA, James had only positive things to say about the coach.

“I respect Frank as a coach, and as a man, in our partnership that we’ve had over a few years here has been nothing but just candid,” James told reporters when Vogel was fired following the 2021-22 season. “Great conversations. He’s a guy that gives everything to the game. Prepared us every single night along with his coaching staff as well… I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”

Vogel was hired by the Lakers’ front office in 2019 to assemble a winning team around James (more so) and AD. It is safe to say he was extremely successful in doing so, as they went on to win the title the very next season, before the eventual scrap with Russell Westbrook in the season that followed.

So, this intensifies the already hot rumor that James wouldn’t mind pairing up with Stephen Curry in Golden State. Recently, Curry even made the pitch.

“You wanna play good basketball and be around people who know how to play the game,” Curry said while addressing the media at the ACC tournament in South Lake Tahoe. “Hopefully, raise our floor and our competitiveness this year.

There’s good golf in the bay. But we are an organization that’s been there; he knows that, and that’s really self-explanatory. It’s just a matter of where he sees himself fit. And at the end of the day, that’s up to him.”

In fact, Draymond Green has also declined his $27.7 million player option and said he is willing to help the team by accepting a lower-value contract. He has not signed one yet, and Charania even reported that Green and his close friend LeBron James were meeting during the off-season.

Vogel, who has a .532 record during the regular season as a head coach, is expected to take over the defensive game plan after Jerry Stackhouse and Terry Stotts, the team’s top two assistants, left the franchise, and longtime assistant Chris DeMarco departed to become the head coach of the New York Liberty.

For what it’s worth, Dub Nation hasn’t slept since Vogel’s hiring for one main reason.

Fans begin hyping the Warriors’ newest move amid LeBron James pursuit

A fan wrote, “step one complete: hire lebrons coaches step two: hire lebrons old teammates step three: get anthony davis step four: sign lebron james.”

Let’s not forget that the Lakers went 16-5 in the playoffs and beat the Miami Heat 4-2 in the Finals in Vogel’s very first season in 2020. The comments online were filled with these analogies because his LA stint was special, not just for the fans but also for himself. The veteran coach has been fired from head-coaching gigs thrice: first in 2018 after an underwhelming stint with the Orlando Magic, then in 2022 by the Lakers, and in 2024 by the Phoenix Suns.

Vogel then returned to the sidelines as a lead assistant coach under Jason Kidd at the Dallas Mavericks in 2025. But a summer later, Kidd lost his job in an effort to give President Masai Ujiri a clean slate to implement a new plan post the Luka Doncic era. So, this new Warriors role under Steve Kerr gives Vogel at least 2 years with the Dubs. We’re saying that because Kerr’s new contract extension keeps him in the Bay Area through the 2027-28 season.

“Same coach AD and LeBron won with in the bubble” and “He got bron a chip in LA, bron going to the warriors.”

Davis, who also briefly met up with Vogel in Dallas before getting traded to Washington, (like LeBron) had good things to say about him when he lost his Lakers job.

“Frank is one of the, I only had three coaches, but he’s one of my favorites,” AD said in 2022. “Out of head coaches and assistant coaches, he’s one of my favorites. I mean, he knows what he’s doing. He goes to war for his players, and he wants to win.”

However, the Warriors are nowhere near alone in trying to steal James in free agency…

Other rivals have also upped their pitch to sign the Akron Hammer. The 76ers have the new Brown-Maxey-Embiid trio, while the Heat have the Bam and Giannis duo. And then there’s Cleveland, offering a storybook ending and reportedly even able to trade for his son, Bronny James.

Meanwhile, the Dubs have brought back Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. They also drafted Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 11, who’s averaging 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting highly efficiently, knocking down 52.3% of his field goals and an impressive 62% from three-point range across 4 Summer League games.

Hence, the Vogel-Warriors move has fans excited.

“LeBron coming next 🤫 congratulation coach 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥” a Warriors fan wrote, with another one posting, “Anything to get Bron 🔥🔥.”

It remains to be seen if this actually becomes the bargaining chip in the Warriors’ pursuit of LeBron, but regardless, they are making moves to win.