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<\/p>\nPORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 It\u2019s the second week of October on a cool day in Portland, and Stephen Curry has just completed a familiar morning routine: a shootaround with his teammates in advance of a preseason game later that night against the Trail Blazers, his own personal workout regimen with trusted assistant Bruce Fraser, an interview on the bench and a short conversation with the Golden State Warriors\u2019 camera crew.<\/p>\n
As he slowly makes his way toward a waiting bus outside Moda Center, Curry is stopped once more to discuss his impact on the game. Specifically, what\u2019s it been like to carry the NBA\u2019s flag for so many years alongside LeBron James.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is surreal,\u201d Curry told The Athletic. \u201cBecause life flashes, life just goes so fast. And you think 17 years in and you\u2019re still in your head able to play at a level that you know can still win games at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curry and James have been the standard bearers for the NBA for years. They have been \u2014 and still are \u2014 the unquestioned faces of the league. Their relationship goes back almost 20 years (even though they were allegedly born at the same hospital in Akron, Ohio). James went to see Curry\u2019s games in college as Curry shot his way into the national conversation from Davidson, the tiny school outside Charlotte, N.C. The pair went through an icier period after Curry\u2019s Warriors and James\u2019 Cleveland Cavaliers went through four straight, hard-fought NBA Finals matchups.<\/p>\n
But through all the battles, a respect has always remained between the all-time competitors. They both know what they mean to the game and how intertwined their legacies are.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s NBA regular-season start brings an opening-night date between Curry\u2019s Warriors and James\u2019 Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old James won\u2019t be suited up for the opener because of a lingering sciatica issue, but so much of the talk surrounding any new season, any Lakers-Warriors game, centers around Curry and James. Soon thereafter, the same question hovers over each one of their matchups, as both men\u2019s careers head down the final stretch:<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question league observers have been asking for years with no clear-cut answer. There are talented players all across the league, but no one generates the type of interest \u2014 combined with a high level of play \u2014\u00a0that Curry and James have for so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool to kind of plant the flag for a new energy of longevity and all that, on top of becoming not just a basketball player,\u201d Curry explained of what he and James have built in this league, \u201cbut business, philanthropy, all that stuff, creating a great framework for opportunity for the next generation of players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curry\u2019s longtime coach, Steve Kerr, won five rings as a player and four more as coach of the Warriors. He played with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, coached Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and is still leading a group with Curry and Draymond Green. He knows what it takes to win at the highest level, and he knows what kind of players resonate the most because he\u2019s worked with many of them throughout the course of his own likely Hall of Fame basketball career. It\u2019s why, as much as he loves Curry and respects James, he\u2019s not concerned that a new face will eventually reveal themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at the history of the league and there\u2019s just gaps,\u201d Kerr told The Athletic. \u201cMichael retires \u2014 there really wasn\u2019t a gap when Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird retired because Michael was right there to fill the void, but when he retired, there was a little bit of a void for sure. Eventually I think Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron filled it. But I imagine the exact same thing is gonna happen. There\u2019s a chance for all these young, talented guys to fill the void, but it takes somebody pretty special to do that.<\/p>\n
Curry repeatedly makes so many of the right moves on and off the floor despite living under the glare of an international spotlight. There\u2019s almost an awe within the organization about how he carries himself and how he maintains the same steady presence day after day, year after year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same way many peers feel about the career James has built for himself after navigating his way through extreme hype and attention before even entering the NBA in 2003. James\u2019 play has taken his legend to the rarefied air that only the best at their craft can attain. But like Curry, his ability to connect with fans is just as important off the floor as it is on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got to be more than just a great player,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cYou have to have charisma, you have to have grace, you have to have a connection that the fans feel. And a connection that sort of transcends fandom. Like everybody\u2019s a LeBron fan, and everybody\u2019s a Steph fan \u2014 everybody was a Michael fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Steph Curry, LeBron James and Draymond Green talk after a January 2025 game. (Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Green is in a unique position as it pertains to any conversation about Curry and James. The Warriors\u2019 outspoken forward has been Curry\u2019s teammate since being drafted in 2012. He knows Curry. He loves Curry. His basketball journey is entirely intertwined with Curry at the forefront. They\u2019ve won four championships together.<\/p>\n
But Green also knows James. The pair has developed a strong friendship over the years. They share an agent, James\u2019 close friend, Rich Paul. Green has played against James at the highest levels. He knows both men exceedingly well. So what does he think will happen when they ride into the sunset?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot how you\u2019ve heard over the last couple years, like, \u2018Who\u2019s the face?\u2019\u201d Green told The Athletic. \u201cIt always turns back to those guys. I think we\u2019ll be in constant search because I don\u2019t know anyone that can carry the way those two guys have. From a fandom standpoint, it\u2019s one thing, but with such grace and they don\u2019t really make mistakes. No disrespect to nobody, but the bar that they\u2019ve set is so high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green knows the search will be in a constant state of motion until the next player, or players, reveal themselves. But why is that part so difficult? Why is what Curry and James have done so much harder to emulate than what so many other star players go through under the spotlight? Green has a theory.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s so much bigger than just the game,\u201d Green said. \u201cThere\u2019s a level of fandom that has to come with that, that I just don\u2019t know how anybody\u2019s going to reach that alone. And without that, then all the other s\u2014 that they do \u2014 the player that usually captures that part can\u2019t do all the other (stuff).\u201d<\/p>\n
Green punctuated his thought with one word \u2014 \u201ctrouble\u201d \u2014 in describing why it will be so difficult to fill both men\u2019s shoes. But as much as he loves and respects both men, as much as he knows what each has done for the game, and for him personally, he shares Kerr\u2019s sentiment about what will eventually happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe league always figures it out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The part that the league will struggle with is finding a pair of stars who are not only worthy of the mantle Curry and James have carried and are ready to handle the responsibility that comes with it, but who can also handle the scrutiny that comes with stardom and still live up to the moment night after night.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s arguably harder than ever to fill,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cBecause of what these guys face every day. The criticism, the judgment, the misinformation, the bulls\u2014 that\u2019s out there. The amount of pressure on these guys is just staggering. And the number of times per day they could make a mistake \u2014 it\u2019s crazy how vulnerable everybody is these days, to negative press or to things happening. It takes somebody who\u2019s really, really mature and stable. Has a great family. \u2026 It takes more than just being a great player; it takes incredible poise and maturity.\u201d<\/p>\n
As fans and league personnel wonder who might be next in line, there\u2019s one person who isn\u2019t spending much time around that conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot much at all,\u201d Curry said, when asked how often he thinks about who the next face of the league will be. \u201cThat stuff takes care of itself. I hope there\u2019s an energy towards being great ambassadors for the game, whoever the group of guys are, you can obviously name those between the Ja\u2019s, the Ant\u2019s, the Luka\u2019s, the Wemby\u2019s, the Shai\u2019s and all that, JT\u2019s (Jayson Tatum), but I don\u2019t get caught up in that, because when I was coming up, there was never a conversation. Until you got to the finals, other people started talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, who does Kerr think that could be?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody should be a Nikola fan,\u201d Kerr continued. \u201cJoki\u0107. He\u2019s so damn good. But is it different because he\u2019s a foreign guy? Same with Luka (Don\u010di\u0107), is it different? Maybe there\u2019s a part of it that has to be an American, I don\u2019t know. But I\u2019m not worried because the history of the league shows that there\u2019s always more people coming along, and I have no doubt that will be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n LeBron James and Stephen Curry celebrate in a game against Serbia at the Paris Olympic Summer Games. (Rob Schumacher \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen how much longer Curry or James will play. Speculation has lingered that this could be the last of James\u2019 illustrious 23 seasons in the NBA. Curry and James won a gold medal last summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics and clearly seemed to enjoy the moment of finally being on the same team. There aren\u2019t many matchups left between the pair, and both men know it.<\/p>\n
As Curry gets ready to take the step back up to the bus in Portland, he is asked one final question. After all that he and James have accomplished, do they ever talk about what they\u2019ve helped build together and what comes next?<\/p>\n
\u201cA decent amount,\u201d Curry admitted as he neared the steps on that bus in Portland. \u201cBut a lot of it is still breaking down the barriers \u2014 like I would love to do more stuff with him. We talk about that. Because obviously our schedule is so limited during the season, offseason, all that type of stuff. But it\u2019s in the sense of finding common ground where we get to really amplify what we all bring to the table, like for business down the road, absolutely, but I\u2019m excited about that when it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curry and James have had their battles, but soon it will be time for them to join forces in a new chapter of a story that people will be sad to see go and excited to see what happens next \u2014 all at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 It\u2019s the second week of October on a cool day in Portland, and Stephen Curry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[2243,1055,355,99],"class_list":["post-240757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}