After a ton of battles on the hardwood and a few missed opportunities to team up on an NBA court, Stephen Curry and LeBron James are poised to be teammates for the first time in their Hall of Fame careers as they look to lead Team USA back to golden glory in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
From 2015 to 2018, Curry's Golden State Warriors and James' Cleveland Cavaliers went to war against each other in the NBA Finals, with the Dubs coming out on top three times. This is precisely why the prospect of them teaming up to achieve the goal of Olympic gold is still something that hasn't quite sunk in yet for the Warriors star, as he is more used to lining up on the opposing team as James, who is fresh off signing a new two-year, $101.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Having Bron as a teammate is surreal, because you have so many battles back and forth. You admired his game. You know what he's about, and to see the work up close and personal every day, to see how, you know, he prepares, how he talks in practice, like I've never had that vantage point of him," Curry said, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. ""So (I'm) just excited to see how our games complement each other and build that chemistry that's going to help lead this team."
Stephen Curry and LeBron James may have a rivalry on the court, but both of them see beyond the competitor and have a great appreciation for each other and their respective impacts on the game of basketball as a whole. Being as great as they are is not easy, and the appreciation of what it takes to reach the level they've consistently been in for the past decade or so has led to an unshakeable mutual respect between them.
"Obviously in the Finals, that brings out the the healthy animosity of somebody standing in your way of a goal. And you know, you're going to have some bad blood out there. But through it all, I'm a firm believer, you can be competitive, you can have that killer instinct and see blood on the other side, but still have the utmost respect for who you're playing against," Curry added.
As much of a treat as it will be for fans to witness Stephen Curry and LeBron James join forces and lead Team USA to a bounce-back performance following a disappointing 2023 FIBA World Cup showing, this joy may not compare to the one felt by both the Warriors and Lakers star. After all, it will be a relief for the both of them that they will not have to worry about facing one another in the Olympics.
One of the biggest ironies in basketball is that LeBron James and Stephen Curry's games are tailor-made for one another. Even in their advanced age, a team built around these two will cause a ton of headaches for their opponents. James is one of the greatest playmakers of all-time, and he is one of the best movers off the ball as well. Handoff actions, low-post splits, and simple pick-and-rolls between them will create a ton of easy offense for Team USA, especially with Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant, their two other surefire starters, flanking them.
The biggest concern regarding James and Curry's decisions to suit up for Team USA in this year's Olympics is that both aren't getting any younger. The Lakers star is going to turn 40 in December, while Curry recently turned 36 years of age back in March. Playing high-intensity games such as the ones that are sure to come in Paris could, perhaps, lead to some injury risk.
Nonetheless, LeBron James knows that he is not going to be physically capable of playing basketball all his life. Thus, it's on him to maximize the opportunities for him to achieve everything there is in his career. And one of those is to get the chance to suit up against some of his longtime rivals.
"You know the game of basketball don't last forever. You don't want to waste the opportunity … to have a relationship, to have that relationship (messed up) over you guys. So, like, you know, so I don't want to lose those moments," James said. "As much as me and [Kevin Durant] has went head to head, as much as you know me and Steph has went head to head, I'm able to get out of my own way, not listen to the narrative of what, the false narratives have been for so long and be able to appreciate the man himself."
Team USA's journey in the 2024 Paris Olympics begins on July 28, when LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and company take on Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the first game of the group stage.
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