The rivalry between Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Golden State Warriors legend Stephen Curry has been going on for nearly a decade. And now another chapter begins as the Lakers and Warriors face off on Christmas Day.

The majority of this rivalry took place when James was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and faced the Warriors in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018. But there have also been some moments since LeBron joined the Lakers, including an incredibly violent second-round playoff game in 2023 in which the Lakers defeated Curry’s Warriors in six games.

But over the years the rivalry has shifted a bit, and Curry spoke about it in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, noting that while they would still attack each other on the court, there is now more respect and less pettiness between them give them the two than in previous years:

“It’s a fun fight because we’ve been doing this for so long. There is more appreciation and respect than probably before. There was a lot of pettiness and resentment, the rivalry was real. But it is evolving. We still want to go at each other, but the respect is there. Now there are a few more gray (hairs) and a few more children.”

That respect likely increased this past summer as the two were teammates on Team USA and had great chemistry as they led the team to a gold medal at the Olympics. This of course led many to wonder if the two would ever work together on an NBA court, but Curry said it was highly unlikely, although he didn’t necessarily say it wouldn’t happen:

“Probably not. But I think the “what ifs” and all those things, we just leave it up to the platform that people want to talk about it on.”

It’s fun to think about, but the chances of James ending his career somewhere other than with the Lakers are slim at best. Both LeBron and Curry are among the greatest players to ever play the game, and the entire basketball world has watched their rivalry grow, and now it’s time to honor the few matchups they still have against each other .

The Lakers’ LeBron James doesn’t take encounters with Stephen Curry for granted

That’s certainly the mindset that LeBron James himself has, as he noted that it’s always fun to compete against someone like Stephen Curry, and we don’t know how many more times they’ll share the court together.

“Always. “Any time you get the opportunity to be on the field and go up against one of the greatest to ever play the game, you don’t take it for granted,” James said. “You don’t know how many opportunities you’ll have still get to compete against each other, so it’s always fun.”

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