The 2024 Olympics in Paris were special as Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry teamed up for the first time to lead USA Basketball to another gold medal.
Things weren’t easy as Team USA faced some tough tests in the medal rounds, coming back to beat Serbia and then hanging on to beat the host France to win it all.
When it mattered most, it was James and Curry that came through for their team to avoid a disappointing finish to the tournament. That was important for Curry, in particular, as he was playing in his first Olympics and struggled greatly from deep in his first few games.
Curry would eventually catch fire though, as he usually does as the greatest shooter of all-time is not gonna struggle for too long. And in a recent appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Curry credited James for instilling confidence in him to get out of the slump:
“It’s a lot of positive self-talk, that’s really all it is. We were winning, and I was doing my part doing other stuff, setting good screens, trying to just play hard and play good defense. But I knew at some point, I’m going to need to make some shots because that’s why I’m here. I actually remember, after we played Puerto Rico in the pool play round, I was doing an interview with one of the guys from the Bay Area and as he was talking, asking me the same question, ‘What’s wrong with your shot? Are you worried about it?’ And the positive self-talk came out and I was like ‘No, we’re winning, and I know it’s gonna come. I know a flurry is coming.’ As soon as I said that, LeBron walks behind me and was like ‘Damn right it is.’ With his baritone voice and I was like ‘Yeah, yeah.’ At first, it caught me off guard because, you know, I had to get used to liking that guy after all of our battles. And now we were teammates and friends and it was definitely a confidence boost, and obviously at the end of the day, it came at the right time.”
James has always been known to be a great teammate that instills confidence in his guys, and this is just the latest example.
After battling for so many years, it was awesome to see James and Curry on the same side for once, and they certainly did not disappoint with their play.
Stephen Curry has greater respect for LeBron James
Other than All-Star Games, the 2024 Olympics marked the first time that long-time rivals Stephen Curry and LeBron James had teamed up.
They both clearly enjoyed the experience and Curry recently said that he came away from it with a greater friendship and respect for James.