LeBron James says Steph Curry ‘keeps me young’ after 2OT triple-double performance

After this weekend’s second-overtime contest between the Lakers and Warriors, NBA legends LeBron James and Stephen Curry showered each other with praise as the game ended in a thrilling victory for the purple and gold in the final seconds. 

Both stars, who have faced each other in four NBA Finals already, proved that age isn’t holding them back from dominating the floor. While The King ended the game with 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists, the Golden State guard dropped in 46 points and 7 assists.

“It’s something I’ll be able to talk about with my grandkids,” LeBron said about his rivalry with Steph. “When you talk about me being able to compete versus one of the greatest players to ever play the game. It’s been a treat to go against one of the greatest to ever play this game.”

James believes his rival makes him a better athlete. “For us to continue to push each other at the state of our careers, you don’t take it for granted because you don’t know how many times you’re actually going to get the moment to actually be on the same floor with such a talent,” he added.

Last Saturday, Curry sure put up a fight, as he hit a three-pointer to give the Bay Area squad a one-point lead with only 5.9 seconds left in the second overtime. The Lakers superstar then drove the ball hard to the basket and was fouled by Draymond Green, only to put in both of his free throws and win the match.

“Every year that we get to do this and go back and forth, the battles — the Finals runs, the playoff battles last year — after the horn sounded tonight there was a little laugh of, I can’t imagine a scenario where a game like tonight happens, [with] him in Season 21 and me in Year 15,” Steph said about facing LeBron. “You look forward to the battles, but you also appreciate the mutual respect of what it takes to keep doing what you’re doing at this level. Only a few people know how hard it is. I’m happy to be in that group.”

Rival Klay Thompson also dedicated praise to LeBron’s leadership. “Credit to LeBron for what he’s doing at his age. I mean, that guy is a freak of nature in terms of his ability to play at this level for so long. Same with Steph,” shared the Warriors guard. “When you’re younger, you don’t ever really think that basketball will stop because it’s what you love. It’s all you do. But when you get to your 30s, you realize there’s an end point to being an athlete.

While the 39-year-old is averaging 25 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists this campaign, the 35-year-old is putting up 27.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5 assists per contest.

Legend Carmelo Anthony says that LeBron is the only player who truly cared about beating Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate

In the latest episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, Carmelo Anthony opened up about who cares the most about being the GOAT. While the legend always idolized Michael Jordan, he’s also one of LeBron’s best friends, so his perspective is special.

“I think Mike did it already”, Anthony started out. “So Mike is the, he’s the target. You get what I’m saying? It’s for y’all to debate that. It ain’t for me to say that…But then you have a young man that’s coming along who understands that’s what I’m coming for, the same way MJ was talking about coming for those 11 rings… So Bron sees that, he’s inspired by that…So I’m going on a journey of being great and through that journey, there’s going to be a point in time where if I do what I have to do, I will be in that conversation with my idol.”

LeBron James has now been an NBA All-Star for over half of his life.

⭐️ 39 years old
⭐️ 20 all-star appearances

We’ve never seen anything like this. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/Ae5DwZNhXW

— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) January 26, 2024

At the end of the day, he simply believes that the purple and gold superstar wants it more and won’t stop until he’s broken every record possible.

“So now, once I get to that conversation, I don’t got to go on the road show to say I’m the greatest, I already put myself there.Now he’s getting the same mindset that MJ got. Y’all determine [who’s the GOAT]. I’m here now… To answer the question, who cares about it most, I think Bron probably cared about it the most because he was the one who was striving to get to that,” Carmelo concluded.