Some of the greatest rivalries in sports include Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi, Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer, Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazer and many more. LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry will likely reach its final chapter Tuesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
The reigning champions survived Game 7 of the first round in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, eliminating the Sacramento Kings.
LeBron pumped up after seeing off the Grizzlies: “Now we move to level two”
Lakers, meanwhile, blew out the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6, beating them by 40 points.
James, 38, and Curry, 35, faced off in the NBA Finals four straight times and this will be their first playoff showdown without the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the line.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost three of those four consecutive Finals against Golden State.
King James does the impossible
In 2016, the Warriors recorded the most wins in regular season history (73), but blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to James and company.
It was the first time in the history of the NBA Finals that a team had completed a comeback after trailing 3-1 in the series.
Warriors had just defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after trailing 3-1 and once Curry lost to James, Golden State recruited Kevin Durant to win two more rings against the Cavaliers.
The only other time James and Curry met outside the regular season was in the 2021 play-in tournament.
