Stephen Curry Says Lebron James Deserves Credit, But Not All Of It

Stephen Curry is amazed by the level of greatness shown by LeBron James to will his team to their third straight NBA Finals, but believes his teammates also should get credit for their effort.

The Golden State Warriors point guard watched James-led Cavaliers defeat the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and the 33-year-old small forward was again the star of the show with 35 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds.

James is getting ready to play his eighth straight NBA Finals and it was his efforts that led an underperforming Cavaliers to the summit clash. He averaged 34 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists throughout the playoffs, without which they were unlikely to have progressed past the first round.

Curry praised his long-time rival’s achievements to bring his team to the final and admitted there was no doubt about James’ longevity and consistency to help his teams get to the finals for the eighth straight year. However, the Warriors point guard wants credit to also go to his teammates, who fought hard to help the team to get where they are — he feels all the limelight on James is disrespectful to other players that lineup with him for every game.

“I hate when people say that,” Curry said ahead of the Warriors’ Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets on Monday night, as quoted on USA Today. “Like it’s — they’re NBA players, and yeah they’re new and what-not and ‘Bron is amazing, (and) he played an unbelievable playoff run to date and has willed his team to his eighth straight Finals and all that, which is unbelievable to think about the consistency and the longevity and just the level of greatness that he’s shown in the Eastern Conference.”

“As a basketball fan, to turn on the TV last night and watch the game and there were points in the game where you didn’t know how it was going to play out and they found a way to get it done, so shout-out to him. It was an amazing performance, but don’t disrespect the other guys out there. They fought hard too,” the Warriors’ two-time MVP added.

Curry and James are set to come face-to-face for the fourth straight year as the Warriors booked their place in the NBA Finals after defeating James Harden-led Rockets in Game 7. The reigning champions needed just five games to win the title against the Cavaliers in 2017 and it remains to be seen if they will have a tougher challenge this time around.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cavaliers will tip off at 9 p.m. EDT at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Live TV coverage of the game is available on ABC with online streaming available through ESPN.