Bill Simmons Says Steph Curry-LeBron James Rivalry ‘Is Not Friendly’

LeBron James and Steph Curry built a strong rivalry many years ago. When it comes to championships in head-to-head titles, Curry has 3, and LeBron has 1. When LeBron rejoined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, he couldn’t predict that his team would meet the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals for four straight years. On an episode of “The Book of Basketball 2.0” podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst had an exchange that will surely catch your attention.

“We know this — I’m not sure the average human being knows this — but the LeBron-Curry thing is pretty real,” Simmons said. “It is not friendly. I think LeBron really has genuine disdain for him. And I think Curry’s kind of like, ‘F–k you, I’ve won as many titles as you have.’ And you could feel it festering in this 2016 (Finals) because there’s this underlying current of LeBron has gone back to Cleveland, the King is back, and then Curry comes in and kind of grabs the crown a little bit. And more importantly, I think to LeBron … became really popular.”

Windhorst didn’t want to use the word “jealous,” because King James isn’t jealous of anybody. However, LeBron didn’t think it was fair.

Curry has become really popular in the past decade. He had the No. 1 selling jersey for 2016 to 2018 and had more All-Star votes than King James in 2015 and 2016.

Moreover, the Warriors superstar became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history in 2016. Some say that the “Baby-Faced Assassin” had supplanted The King as the face of the NBA.

In August 2018, Curry talked to Simmons about this. He said there is a lot of mutual respect.

“There’s definitely a mutual respect. I would say though when you see guys working out with each other in the summers and you see guys playing pickup and all that — when you step foot on the court during the season, it’s a totally different environment.

“Guys can be buddies and friends and whatnot and have whatever type of relationship they want to have in the summer and off the court, but the rivalry and competition and egos and all that stuff that lives in an NBA game and when you’re trying to hold that trophy … it’s really there and it’s not going anywhere.”

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