LeBron James & Stephen Curry Recall ‘Resentment’ During Peak Of Rivalry

It felt like yesterday when LeBron James and Stephen Curry were on-the-court rivals in the mid/late 2010s. James and Curry met in the finals every year from 2015-2018, with Chef Curry’s Warriors winning three of four meetings against King James’ Cavaliers. James’ performance in the 2015-16 finals went down in history as he averaged 29.7 points per game, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists while making a clutch block on Andre Iguodala in game 7. The Cavs completed a 3-1 comeback to win their first NBA Finals in team history.

Fast forward to 2024, and we see the former rivals playing alongside each other on Team USA in the Paris Olympics. Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports that “a resentment” exists between the two.

“It was like a healthy resentment of somebody that’s standing in your way,” Curry remarked. “But through it all, there’s the utmost respect for who he is as a person, player and, like, how good he is and the challenge in trying to beat him every year.”

James admitted that bad blood should have existed between the two but noted that he didn’t want to miss out on the special moments and stated the importance of these rivalries. “The game of basketball don’t last forever,” James said. “You don’t want to waste the opportunity to have a relationship with someone. A lot of y’all grew up in the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era, and we shouldn’t like each other, but I’m also aware that Isiah Thomas and Magic hugged and kissed on the floor because it was mutual respect.”

The Paris Olympics marks Curry’s debut, while this is James’s fourth appearance. U.S. Men’s Basketball defeated Serbia 105-79. Curry scored 24 points while James dropped 11.