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Over the years, Steph Curry and LeBron James have developed a bit of a rivalry. The two have been among the NBA’s elites and responsible for leading teams to eight of the last 10 championships, having faced each other in the NBA Finals four times. While there have been some heated matchups between the two superstars, they hold a lot of respect for each other.
LeBron said that Curry should’ve been the MVP last season despite the Warriors not making it into the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers played Golden State on Friday in a preseason matchup. Prior to the game, Curry offered major praise for what LeBron has done for the NBA.
“Let’s keep it real—what is he, in his 18th year? Nine straight Finals, all the things that he’s accomplished,” Curry told reporters Friday, via ESPN. “You have a vision of sustaining your prime for as long as you can, kind of reimagining what that looks like. So you know the work that goes into it, the intentionality, especially in the offseasons, especially how you take care of your body, your mind. Balance on court, off court.”
LeBron is actually heading into his 19th season and it’s completely unprecedented that he’s still playing at such a high level. Michael Jordan only played in 15 seasons and we’ve seen many Hall of Famers stop playing at a high level at much younger ages than LeBron. Obviously, not every player has his body but there’s no doubt that he’s helped put a strong emphasis on players taking care of themselves.
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LeBron Talks New Offensive System
For the first time, we finally saw LeBron on the court with Russell Westbrook on Friday against the Warriors. The early signs weren’t great as the Lakers lost 121-114. Westbrook and LeBron were particularly ineffective as they combined for just 11 points. There are bound to be growing pains with a completely revamped roster so LeBron isn’t worried about the poor performance.
“We pretty much have got a whole new offensive system this year that we’ve been working through over our practices since training camp started,” LeBron said. “It’s an adjustment for us offensively, just having guys in different positions, having guys in different places on the floor with our new look and what we’re trying to do.”
LeBron Believes It Will Take Time to Figure Things Out
The Lakers don’t need to worry too much about the regular season. Obviously, it’s great to have a homecourt advantage in the playoffs but that won’t stop the team from winning another championship. LeBron does expect it to take time for the team to sort everything out.
“It’s going to be a process for us, but I think it will be better off for us in the long run. It keeps the ball moving from one side to another,” LeBron said. “Not much with a dribble but more with a pass. And obviously, we’ve got downhill attackers with Russ, [Kendrick] Nunn, myself and Talen [Horton-Tucker].”
Newly constructed superteams typically take time to sort things out. It hasn’t been the epic start for the Lakers that many hoped it would be but it’s just the preseason. The team’s big three of LeBron, Westbrook and Anthony Davis haven’t even played on the court together yet. We won’t have a great idea of how far along this team is until they play the Warriors again to open the regular season.
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