SACRAMENTO – LeBron James defended Stephen Curry on Wednesday, which was surprising because, well, their two teams didn’t play each other.
After James’ Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena, the four-time MVP, two-time champion and future Hall of Famer discussed this phenomenon in which former players so often criticize current stars while claiming that they’d be never be this dominant in bygone eras. Curry has been the most recent victim of this growing trend, with the likes of Oscar Robertson and others marginalizing the historic accomplishments of the Golden State Warriors star and reigning MVP with their self-serving commentary.
“Yeah, for me personally in my career I’ve done nothing but big-up the guys who paved the way for us,” James told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m respectful to all the guys who paved the way, the greats, guys who were role players, guys who were part of a championship team or was not. I’ve always been respectful, so it does kind of suck when you’ve got guys who played before us and paved the way for us (and) …they like to talk down on a lot of our players, saying, ‘Well if they played in our era it wouldn’t be the same.’”
James, who is widely known to have the memory of an elephant, instantly recalled a time in 2013 when he was the subject of such silliness.
“I heard Dennis Rodman say if I played in their era I’d just be an average player – yeah, about me, that I’d be just an average player,” James said. “And they say the same things about Steph, ‘If Steph played in our era, then we’d be more physical with him and we’d go at him.’ And it sucks because we’re just trying to carry the torch for the next group to come behind us.
“I just want to be able to leave a mark personally, and be able to leave this game, this beautiful game, when I’m done with it for the next group of guys. I’m never one to talk down on a group of guys. If they can play, they can play.”
This isn't the first time James went out of his way to speak highly of Curry, whose Warriors downed the Cavs in last year's NBA Finals. When Curry tied the single-game record for made three-pointers (12) while setting a new single-season record for threes in a Feb. 27 win over Oklahoma City, James shared his admiration like so many others.
The timing of James’ comments couldn’t have been more fitting, as he will face retiring Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for the final time at the Staples Center on Thursday night. The two stars have a mutual respect for one another that has been well-chronicled for years, and James spoke glowingly about Bryant yet again after the win over the Kings.
Yet while James has never been shy to share his perspective, he swears he’ll never become the get-off-my-lawn type when his playing days are done.
“Listen, if we know guys who can’t play at a high level, then you voice your opinion on it,” James said. “But when you get to talking (about players) like Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron, ‘Melo (Carmelo Anthony), Steph, (James) Harden, come on. We’re doing our job. We’re doing our job to continue to make this game beautiful.
“So you hear about (the criticism), but you don’t let it affect you because we understand that they paved the way for us. Then you’ve got (Tim) Duncan, Kobe, KG (Kevin Garnett), Dirk (Nowitzki). They paved the way for us. Now myself, D-Wade, ‘Melo, Chris Bosh, CP3 (Chris Paul), we’re kind of paving the way for Steph, Klay, all those generations, and now they’re doing it for the younger guys. It’s no biggie.”
