LeBron, Curry face-off to fuel brewing rivalry

OAKLAND, California – LeBron versus Steph. King James versus the Baby-faced Assassin. Nike versus UnderArmour.

Any way you slice it, it’s a dream matchup for the league in the NBA Finals. Again.

A second straight championship showdown between LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors puts the league’s two brightest stars on its biggest stage.

It could also mark the beginnings of a new rivalry between the long-time face of the league and the shooting supernova threatening to supplant him.

“It’s really annoying for me. That’s not what I’m playing for, to be the face of the NBA or to be this or that or to take LeBron’s throne or whatever,” Curry said Wednesday, one day before the Warriors host the Cavs in Game 1. “You know, I’m trying to chase rings, and that’s what I’m all about. So that’s where the conversation stops for me.”

Curry got his first last year, at James’ expense. And there have been subtle signs of a brewing rivalry ever since.

As the Curry hype was building during the Warriors’ run to the title last season, James went out of his way to proclaim himself “the best player on the planet” during the finals. He played like it, too, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists while carrying a Cavs team missing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love through six games in the series.

After Curry won his second MVP award this season in unanimous fashion – something no other player, including four-time winner James, had ever done – James offered a nuanced take on the achievement.

James said Curry’s numbers were tremendous, “but when you talk about most ‘valuable’ then you can have a different conversation, so, take nothing away from him, he’s definitely deserving of that award, for sure.”

On Wednesday, James expanded, saying “Steph was definitely the MVP of our league.”

“You guys make rivals,” James said. “I think it’s great for the sport. It’s great for all sports. I don’t think me and Steph, when you talk about rivalries, you talk about Carolina-Duke, you talk about Ohio State-Michigan. It’s hard to say LeBron and Steph. If there’s a smaller scale or another word for a rival.”

If not rivals, certainly peers at the top of the league’s food chain. They’ve both changed the league in different ways.

“I don’t think there’s just a face in the NBA,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “I think there are faces because it’s such a star-driven league...But I think it might be easier for the common fan to relate to Steph because it’s hard to be 6-8, 260 and have a 40-inch (vertical) and be the fastest guy on the floor.”

There are similarities between the locomotive and the lightning bolt.