Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry has surprisingly left off LeBron James from his NBA all-time starting five.
Curry and James seem to have a friendly relationship despite being rivals on the court, having met in four consecutive NBA finals. It's the former who has got the better of the rivalry, winning three NBA finals meetings against James' former team the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Cavs only taking one from the Warriors in 2016.
Whilst the Warriors are the team that have ultimately got in the way of James most prominently in his career, it's fair to say he's widely respected by all at the franchise. Curry and Klay Thompson are seemingly friends with him, whilst Draymond Green has become an especially close pal of James - who recently named him the greatest of all-time amid reports that Green could join the Lakers when he becomes a free agent next summer.
But for whatever reason, Curry decided to leave James off of his top five starting line-up. When asked, Curry chose himself, Magic Johnson (Lakers), Michael Jordan (Bulls), Dirk Nowitski (Mavericks) and Shaquille O'Neal (Lakers).
Speculating on why Curry left James out, Fox Sports' Skip Bayless told Undisputed: "Remember back in the day when they started to compete in the NBA finals, there was much reporting of jealousy and resentment from Curry's side with LeBron already established. There was negativity from Steph's side towards LeBron - it seems like there's a jealousy still there. There's usually, the players put their contemporaries in because they feel that this era is better than that era."
Bayless also referred to a moment earlier this year, when James said he would like to play with Curry on the same team one day before he retires, with some speculating that he could join the Warriors in 2024, when his son, Bronny James is likely to enter the league. However, Curry played that suggestion down.
Bayless said: "What was Steph's line of the Golden State Warriors possibly acquiring LeBron? He said, 'I'm good'. Yet it was Steph who led the charge to acquire Kevin Durant, the man who the Warriors needed to go at LeBron James."
Curry and James now both have four NBA championships, with the Warriors defeating the Boston Celtics in the finals this past season.
However it's looking unlikely that either will be competing for a ring this season, with both teams currently out of the playoffs spots and struggling to compete with the better teams in the league.
