LeBron and Steph, Steph and LeBron … they were not grouped together as rookies, like Bird and Magic, and they do not play the same position like Wilt and Russell, so it took some time to see what should be obvious now. This is their generation of basketball. Every other great player is in the book, but LeBron James and Steph Curry belong on the cover.
That is why this Lakers-Warriors series is such a treat. It will be the fourth time James and Curry face each other in the NBA playoffs, but the first time we can watch the whole series with a firm appreciation of their historical significance—and do so while they are still at the peak of their skills. If the league held a draft of the remaining players for the rest of this spring, James and Curry might be the top two picks.
In 2015, the world was still adjusting to the idea of Curry being a true superstar instead of just a shooter. He didn’t even win Finals MVP. The ’16 Finals were framed, before and after, as a matchup of a great team (the 73-win Warriors) against an all-time great player (James, who was then with the Cavaliers). Both teams met again in the ’17 and ’18 Finals, but those series mostly served as a chance for Kevin Durant to prove what any intelligent observer already knew about him.
