Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless believes the rivalry between Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is one-sided and James owns the rivalry with Curry despite not winning more titles against him.
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“I’m going to disqualify this as a one-sided rivalry because I’m all about LeBron in this rivarly,” Bayless said. “Seriously, head-to-head, they’ve played 22 Finals games against each other – head-to-head.
“LeBron has averaged 33, 12 rebounds and nine assists. That’s pretty sensational.”
Bayless went on to explain that Curry averaged lesser numbers and that he didn’t win a Finals MVP in any of their matchups against each other in the Finals.
“To me, it’s a one-sided rivalry because LeBron has outplayed him across the board,” Bayless said.
It’s hard to argue with Bayless’ sentiment, as the Warriors had much more dominant teams, especially when they added Kevin Durant, during James’ second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Now, Curry and James are facing off in the second round of the NBA Playoffs with a trip to the Western Conference Finals on the line.
This is the first time that the two have met in the playoffs in the Western Conference, but James did beat Curry in the league’s play-in tournament in the 2020-21 season. That win gave the Lakers the No. 7 seed in the West, although they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers took Game 1 of their series with Curry and the Warriors on Tuesday night, and James had yet another solid game.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer put up 24 points on 9-of-24 shooting, 11 rebounds and four assists in the win. The Lakers also got a huge game from superstar Anthony Davis, who finished with 30 points and 23 rebounds in Game 1.
With the win, the Lakers have now taken home-court advantage from the Warriors ahead of Thursday’s Game 2.
Curry and James have had some epic battles against each other in their careers, but it’s hard to make a case that Curry has played better than James.
The Lakers are hoping that their four-time Finals MVP can continue to dominate the stat sheet and lead them to the Western Conference Finals this season.
