Despite the odds stacked against them, the Golden State Warriors have remained contenders for LeBron James in free agency and have stayed persistent in their pursuit of him, their last true chance at landing another superstar this offseason.

They’ve consistently been mentioned in conversations for the future Hall of Famer in free agency, but as time has gone on the  Warriors have found themselves increasingly out of contention.

The Warriors mostly relied on recruiting efforts from Steph Curry and Draymond Green, who both have publicly and privately pitched the Warriors to LeBron and relied on their personal history off-court friendships with him to try to win him over to the Bay Area, but it's still going to be a tall order.

Marc Spears Delivers Bad News

That’s why a recent report from Mark Spears about Golden State's chances  to land James is both disappointing to hear for Warriors fans, but also not surprising.

"I'm kind of hearing today that the Warriors internally kind of feel like they're a dark horse at this point, that LeBron James is probably going out East," Spears said.

Compared to the other potential candidates that James has been reportedly looking at, the Warriors do have some of the weakest tangible factors to provide him beyond simply the narrative strength of uniting James and Curry together.

The Warriors don’t have a particularly strong roster to suit James nor were they able to follow through on what was reportedly a requirement for James to head to the Bay, that being trading for Anthony Davis from the Washington Wizards.

Who's Ahead of the Warriors?

Without  those negotiating factors, the Warriors have increasingly fallen behind teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who James obviously has a personal history with, and the Miami Heat who James won his first championship with and have since bolstered their roster with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Beyond  James' former teams, the other strong contender for him has been the Philadelphia 76ers, who among the four teams mentioned have the strongest roster and the likeliest chances at a championship with James.

Despite their dark horse status though, the Warriors have persisted in conversations for James and just the fact that they’ve even stayed in the running, even distantly, does leave some room for hope.

Ultimately only time will tell where James ends up as he has not been particularly get too wrapped up in any kind of expectation for James, but should he sign with Golden State, it will be a positive surprise amidst and offseason of doubt around their chances.