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Steph Curry and LeBron James have met four times in the NBA Finals throughout their careers, but this time around, only one of the two NBA giants will make it out of the second round in the NBA Playoffs.
With Game 1 between the Warriors and the Lakers happening tomorrow, Shannon Sharpe made an interesting comparison of the rivalry on "Skip and Shannon: Undisputed."
"The only other rivalry that you could say would rival this is Chamberlain-Russell," Sharpe said. People say 'Bird-Magic' but Bird and Magic only played twice. They only played twice. They played the '84 and they played again in '85, that was only two times. But when you get Chamberlain and Russell in ever year, we don't normally see historically great players."
When it came to the rivalry between Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, Russell always got the better of Chamberlain as he was a force down low at the defensive end with him being able to hold his ground against a fierce competitor in Wilt Chamberlain.
Chamberlain has a record of 20 wins and 29 losses at the hands of the Celtics' legend along with losing twice to him in the two NBA Finals that they've played against one another in.
The historic rivalry was considered the NBA's first true rivalry as it involved two superstars in their peak forms going toe-to-toe.
As for LeBron James and Steph Curry's rivalry, the Warriors' star managed to win three of the four times the two icons have met in the finals. During the two icons' first meeting in the 2015 NBA Finals, Steph Curry got the better of LeBron James as he was able to lead the Golden State Warriors in securing the championship in six games.
Curry averaged 26.0 points on 44.3% shooting, including 38.5% from three-point range, 6.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists. James on the other hand averaged 35.8 points on 39.8% shooting, including 31.0% from three-point range, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists.
The last time the two met in the finals was back in 2018, wherein, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors swept LeBron james' Cleveland Cavaliers, making it Curry's third championship.
In the 2018 finals, Steph Curry averaged 27.5 points on 40.2% shooting, including 41.5% from three-point range, 6.8 assists and 6.0 rebounds. LeBron James, on the other end, was no slouch either when it came to his stats, as he averaged 34.0 points on 52.7% shooting, including 33.3% from three-point range, 10.0 assists and 8.5 rebounds.
Steph Curry's teammate Draymond Green on facing LeBron James in the semifinals round
Following the Game 7 loss on the road against the Sacramento Kings, Draymond Green spoke to the media and gave an insightful perspective on facing LeBron James in the second round of the playoffs.
“Stop trying to turn the page on us so fast,” Green said. “Stop trying to turn the page on ‘Bron so fast. We get so caught up in, ‘What’s the next thing?’ that we don’t appreciate the current. And then you get to the next thing and looking back like, ‘I wish we still had that. I wish we could still see this.’"
From Green's perspective, having another matchup between Steph Curry and LeBron James in the postseason is a testament to the dominance and consistency they have displayed at this stage in their respective careers.
