From longtime rivals to current Team USA allies, Steph Curry and LeBron James have an extensive NBA history on and off the court.
The stars battled it out in four consecutive NBA Finals series between the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers from 2015-2018 until James became a Western Conference rival when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers before the 2018-19 season.
Now teammates for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Curry, in speaking to The Athletic's Joe Vardon, admitted there always was a certain tension between him and James over the years.
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“It was like a healthy resentment of somebody that’s standing in your way,” Curry said. “But through it all, like there’s obviously the utmost respect for who he is as a person and a player and like how good he is and the challenge of trying to beat him and trying to solve that problem every year.”
James acknowledged the rivalry between the two, but claimed the idea that "they should hate each other" was a media-driven narrative and it was important to both stars that it never got to that point.
“The game of basketball don’t last forever,” James shared. “You don’t want to waste the opportunity to be able to have a relationship with someone.”
Superstar forward Kevin Durant, a previous teammate of Curry who had a front-row seat to the two star's rivalry, explained how their competitive history led to a blossoming friendship.
Golden State Warriors
“He ain’t young Steph no more, and he’s not the Bron that you were looking up to no more — you become competitors,” Durant said. “I think that respect level goes up even more. I think they became better friends now than they were when they went through that experience, competing with one another and being rivals, if you call it that.
“You could see that, you can see how much they respect one another.”
There is no doubt the healthy competition between Curry and James has been a great thing for the NBA, and before the two stars continue their rivalry throughout the 2024-25 NBA season, they will -- for the first and likely only time -- join forces with one common goal: Helping Team USA take home the gold medal.
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