Stephen Curry says LeBron James once called him the ‘king of basketball in North Carolina’

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James have had multiple heated battles against each other over the years.

Although they are rivals, there’s a great deal of respect between the two players.

Curry recently told a story about a time that James called him the “king of basketball in North Carolina” while the sharpshooter was at Davidson College.

“I was a sophomore in college and LeBron was coming to my games,” Curry told GQ‘s Hanif Abdurraqib. “I actually still have the jersey he gave me. He signed a jersey for me. I think that was November of my junior year. On my wall at my parents’ house in Charlotte, it’s still there. And he wrote it to me, called me the king of basketball in North Carolina. So I guess it’s like the corny idols-become-rivals thing.”

It’s great to see that two of the best players in the league today have had respect for each other for many years.

Before joining the Lakers, James played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. For four straight years from 2015 to 2018, James and the Cavaliers played against Curry and the Warriors in the NBA Finals. Golden State wound up winning three of those four series.

Cleveland epically won the 2016 NBA Finals after storming back from a 3-1 deficit. The Cavs are still the only team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in any NBA Finals series.

The Lakers and Warriors have already played each other once this season, with Golden State winning the first matchup.

The teams will next play one another again on Feb. 12 in what is surely going to be a great spectacle.