LeBron James once described Stephen Curry's greatness with 9-word mantra for defenses

LeBron James had nothing but praise for Steph Curry last year in an episode of "The Shop" on HBO. James named Curry as one of the players he wants to play with, describing the Golden State Warriors guard's greatness by how NBA defenses match against him.

In the second episode of the fifth season of "The Shop," the LA Lakers superstar was asked about players past or present he would have loved to play with. "The King" named his son Bronny first before adding Curry, Scottie Pippen and Penny Hardaway.

"In today's game, sh*t, there's some motherf***ers in today's game, but Steph Curry," James said. "Steph Curry's the one that I wanna play with for sure, in today's game. ... I love everything about that guy. Lethal."

James also explained how opposing teams play defense against Curry:

"He get out his car. You better guard him."

LeBron James has played with Curry in the 2021 and 2022 All-Star Games. James was the captain and drafted Curry as part of his team. The Golden State Warriors superstar responded to James' remarks about him in an episode of 95.7 The Game last year.

"Well, he got his wish," Curry said. "He was the captain and he's picked me for the last two All-Star Games, so I don't know if that suffices, but I'm good right now.

"Whenever you get the interest or curiosity of what it would be like to play with arguably the MVP kinda caliber dude like he is, one of the greatest of all-time, cool. That's amazing. We all can live in that fantasy world."

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LeBron James and Steph Curry have a chance to team up next year

LeBron James (left) and Steph Curry

Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported earlier this month after the 2023 FIBA World Cup that LeBron James was interested in playing for Team USA in next year's Paris Olympics. James was reportedly recruiting superstars like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum to join him.

Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker and De'Aaron Fox also reportedly showed interest in wearing the red, white and blue jerseys next year.

Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges, who were part of the team that finished fourth in the FIBA World Cup, could be carryovers for next year's Team USA.

Bam Adebayo and Desmond Bane, who were supposed to play in the FIBA World Cup, are also reportedly available to play in Paris next year. It will be interesting to see if the aforementioned NBA players would have the same motivation to commit to playing for their country after a grueling season.

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