Los Angeles Lakers 20-time All-NBA combo forward LeBron James has enjoyed many a storied rivalry across his surefire first ballot Hall of Fame career, but perhaps none have been as historically important as his relationship with 10-time All-NBA Golden State point guard Stephen Curry.
Following a narrow 117-114 defeat to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, a reflective James conceded that his impending Wednesday clash with Curry’s Golden State Warriors could be one of their last, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“Any time you get an opportunity to be on the court and compete versus one of the greatest to ever play this game. You don’t take it for granted,” James said. “I don’t know how many more opportunities we’re going to get to go against each other.”
James, the league’s oldest active player at 39, is suiting up in a record-tying 22nd season. Curry, who turns 37 in March, is playing in his 16th. Both have extensive postseason mileage, too, with James having driven his teams to 10 NBA Finals and Curry having brought Golden State to six — both have won four.
In fact, Curry and James met in four straight NBA Finals, amidst James’ second tour of duty for the Cleveland Cleveland, from 2014-15 through 2017-18. Curry’s Warriors won the majority of those clashes, 3-1. Since joining the Lakers, despite playing in the same conference and the same division, James and Curry have only squared off in one additional postseason series, a 2023 West semifinals. James’ Lakers won in six games, bringing his head-to-head playoff record against Curry to 2-3.
This year, both their clubs find themselves mired in mediocrity, right next to each other in the talented Western Conference’s play-in bracket. James’ Lakers are 16-13 on the year, 0.5 games ahead of Curry’s 15-13 Warriors.
Both find themselves in relatively precarious playoff positions. The 14-14 Phoenix Suns occupy the conference’s No. 11 seed, while the 13-17 Sacramento Kings are the No. 12 seed. An injury to either James or Curry could send their respective franchise careening out of the postseason conversation and into the NBA’s lottery race.
James, a four-time league MVP, and Curry, a two-time MVP, were finally teammates — briefly — this summer, when they led Team USA men’s basketball to its fifth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Both men have revolutionized the game forever. Here’s hoping their latest meeting on Christmas is a fun one.
