LeBron James and Stephen Curry are joining forces on the men’s national team for the Paris Olympics.
Since LeBron joined the Lakers, they’ve played together during All-Star games, but they’ve primarily been rivals during their overlapping NBA careers, especially from 2015 to 2018 when they met in the NBA Finals every year.
While they are now excited to play together, this wasn’t always a foreseeable outcome. Joe Vardon of The Athletic has detailed the history of their evolving relationship, uncovering the truth about their “healthy resentment.” It turns out that while they didn’t always like each other, it was in the most respectful way possible.
“It was like a healthy resentment of somebody that’s standing in your way,” Curry said. “But through it all, there’s obviously the utmost respect for who he is as a person and a player, and how good he is. The challenge of trying to beat him and solve that problem every year was immense.”
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James, on the other hand, acknowledged that by traditional NBA rivalry standards, they should have despised each other. However, being LeBron James, he was aware of the reality behind many of those feuds and didn’t want to miss out on other special moments.
“A lot of y’all maybe grew up in the Bird-Magic era and we shouldn’t like each other, but I’m also aware enough to know that Isiah (Thomas) and Magic hugged and kissed each other on the floor too because it was just mutual respect,” James said. “They say Michael never talked to any of his opponents, but I’m also smart enough to know that he and Charles (Barkley) had a lot of conversations during the ’93 finals and also played golf against each other.”
One of the most iconic moments that showcased their competitiveness came during Game Six of the 2015 NBA Finals when LeBron blocked Curry from behind and made sure to let him know about it.
It’s incredible that nearly a decade later, they’re sharing the court with a common goal. If we’re lucky, they’ll provide moments as memorable as those they did when they were just rivals. Now, united on the national team, fans are eager to see what these two legends can achieve together.
