Stephen Curry and LeBron James come from Akron, Ohio. They were also born in the same hospital. It was the Akron General Medical Center. However, their NBA careers took completely different paths. The all-time leading scorer made his NBA debut in 2003. On the other hand, the all-time leading scorer from three-point range in the NBA debuted in 2009. But the four-time MVP is only three years older than the Dubs superstar. Nevertheless, they have had an epic rivalry ever since they met each other in four consecutive NBA Finals. When LeBron James moved back to the Cleveland Cavaliers for his second stint with the franchise, he led the team to four finals in a row.
From 2015 to 2018, the league saw the same finalists as the Golden State Warriors met the Cavaliers in all those finals. But three out of the four times, Stephen Curry was able to lead the Warriors successfully in beating the Cavaliers to win the titles. However, in 2016, LeBron James led the Cavaliers to win the title and end the 50 years beyond “Cleveland Curse.” Since then, the Curry-James rivalry has been the face of the league. Lately, an ESPN analyst claimed Steph’s legacy with the Warriors is greater than LeBron’s whole career.
Stephen A Smith Votes For Stephen Curry In The James-Curry Debate
It will feel very weird to see the second round of playoffs without Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry. The Warriors failed to make the playoffs when the Sacramento Kings knocked them out in the play-in stage. Later, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoneix Suns both suffered eliminations in round 1. But the fans know it won’t be the end of the basketball fever after the ongoing season gets over. There is the Paris Olympics this year, where Team USA will participate with a modern-day Dream Team. Steph, KD, and LeBron will team up to win Gold for their national team. Lately, Stephen A Smith of ESPN mentioned Curry has cemented a greater legacy than Kevin Durant in the NBA. That might be true, but Smith said it might be greater than LeBron’s legacy as well.
Moreover, the national sports talking head used Michael Jordan as the measuring stick to justify his claim. According to Smith, only Stephen Curry comes close to the unblemished legacy of the great MJ. On Tuesday, Stephen A Smith said LeBron James had to change teams and look for help to win his four titles so far. But Smith said on the episode of First Take that Curry needed very little help. Like MJ, Steph stayed in the same franchise. Adding to that, Smith said those franchises built the team around MJ and Steph. But that’s not the case with LBJ and KD. That’s why Stephen A Smith believes Curry had a greater legacy than his two other contemporaries.
Shannon Sharpe Was Ready With A Response To Smith’s Claim
The fellow panelist of Smith at First Take, Shannon Sharpe, mentioned that Jerry Klause was the real architect of Jordan’s team. Then, to argue about LeBron’s travels to different teams to win titles, Sharpe said that LBJ will always have a link to the Cleveland Cavaliers, despite the fact that he left that franchise twice. Hence, Sharpe feels the travel element is not a very strong argument to decide the greatness of the two kids from Akron, Ohio.
Moreover, Shannon Sharpe pointed out the fact that Steph needed Kevin Durant to help him and the Warriors win two finals against LBJ’s Cavaliers after the infamous 2016 loss. But Sharpe agrees that since KD left the Dubs team, he could not manage to cement a superior legacy to the three-point King.
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