Steph Curry and LeBron James were the faces of the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers respectively at the peak of their rivalry throughout the late 2010s. The Cavs and the Warriors met in the NBA Finals 4 seasons in a row, with Curry’s team prevailing thrice, two times after the addition of Kevin Durant to the side.
And while the rivalry was intense and filled with many contentious moments, LeBron and Steph seemingly always had a good relationship off the court. James spoke this season about wanting to play with Curry out of all the players in the NBA, and while that’s unlikely to happen, the two have teamed up during the All-Star Game with its new drafting format.
And it would seem that their relationship goes further back than that, with Steph Curry revealing on the Icons Club podcast that he received some sound advice from James when he was still in college at Davidson.
“I started chopping it up with him. He gave me a lot of good knowledge on the level of expectations I should set for myself, and the way to keep tunnel vision on getting better no matter what the situation around me was, maintain a control on what I could control.”
Curry enjoyed a much different rise to superstardom than LeBron, being quite underrated thanks to his size growing up and struggling with numerous injuries during his first few seasons in the league. He overcame all of those things though, seemingly also helped in part by LeBron’s advice, and firmly established himself as the greatest shooter the NBA has ever seen.
Rivalries are part of what makes basketball fun but it’s evident that the players recognize that they have more in common with one another than not off the court. And while seeing the best go at each other will always be what makes the NBA great, it’s also wonderful that stars often end up mentoring and inspiring the players that become their biggest rivals.
