Getty LeBron James the Los Angeles Lakers and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
During a recent Instagram Q&A session, Bronny James — the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James — drew some laughs with a mention of one of his dad’s longtime rivals, Steph Curry.
A trolling commenter asked the younger James who his dad was, likely knowing full well he’s the son of “The King.” While dribbling a basketball Bronny responded, “Steph Curry.”
Who knows why he chose Curry, but it had his dad laughing, who responded with all crying laughing faces to a clip of the comment on social media.
Bronny’s response 😂
Rivalry Between Former MVPs Has History
LeBron James and Curry — who both have multiple MVP trophies — famously battled in four straight NBA Finals, with the Warriors snatching three titles and the Cavaliers one from 2015-18.
There’s been a lot of talk that the rivalry between James and Curry is “not friendly,” which The Ringer’s Bill Simmons talked about with Brian Windhorst on his podcast.
“It is not friendly. I think LeBron really has genuine disdain for him,” Simmons said (h/t NBC Sports Bay Area). “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.”
Windhorst, who has covered LeBron basically since he hit the spotlight in high school, agreed.
“I don’t know if the word jealous is fair because I don’t think LeBron is jealous of anybody,” Windhorst said. “But he didn’t think it was fair. He’s like, ‘What about me?'”
Curry, LeBron Have Mutual Respect for One Another
GettyLeBron James with Steph Curry.
Simmons had mentioned the same topic to Curry in an episode of his podcast, saying he wasn’t sure if he and James liked each other very much.
“There’s definitely a mutual respect,” Curry told Simmons. “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.”
Steph Curry breaks down the sequence of events that led to him and LeBron getting into it at the #NBAFinals for @BillSimmons.
Full #BSPocast: t.co/FaHNqfdNJG
James recently dropped a tidbit of respect for Curry on social media. A post asked how good Curry would be if he played in the ‘90s. James responded, “Wouldn’t be good. He’d be GREAT! In any era.”
Maybe a year off from their Finals rivalry has cooled things off a bit.
Two days ago, LeBron said Steph would be “GREAT!!!” in any era of basketball.
James is preparing with his Lakers teammates for the NBA restart in Orlando. Before the season was put on hold, the Lakers were rolling behind James and Anthony Davis, reeling off a 49-14 record — the best in the Western Conference.
Curry and the Warriors experienced a dismal year highlighted by multiple injuries to the team’s stars, Curry included. The Warriors finished the shortened season with an NBA worst 15-50 record.
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