It’s not going to be an All-Star game this time. LeBron James and Stephen Curry, two of the most decorated basketball stars will officially be teammates during the Paris Olympics. For the first time in their careers, the anticipated team-up will take place during a competitive tournament. For years, Curry and James have been touted against each other. It all came down to their numerous clashes, mostly at the NBA Finals.

However, history can’t help but ensure their relationship remains protected. Coincidentally, James and Curry grew up in the same hospital in Akron. Not only do they share the same birthplace, but James was a massive fan of the NBA’s most prolific three-point shooter since his discrete days with Davidsons. The Akron Hammer even went to get a glimpse of Steph Curry in action, during which the pair met formally for the very first time.

They stayed in touch, even until Curry arrived in the NBA in 2009. The first time he went back to Akron after 1998 was during his maiden season, and it was to face LeBron James. Having the knowledge Curry is in town, James invited him into the confines of his home.

“I’m in the hotel the night before the game and he hit me was like ‘You want to come to the house?’. And his house was in Akron… Hung out with him that night. He had a little bowling alley in his basement, did that. Bryce and Bronny were running around the house like little kids. Like that was the first time I had been back to Akron and it was cool because obviously the connection between me and him,”. Curry said on his Heat Check podcast. 

Their brotherhood continued for many years until they eventually had to face each other more than once every year. Since 2015, the Cavaliers and Warriors met in four straight Finals. The hostility and inevitable feelings of battle created a rift between the two superstars. Stephen Curry and LeBron James couldn’t simply be friends.

Their bond had taken the shape of a rivalry that precedes the NBA even today. In those moments, James tried to take digs at Curry by making cookies of his face on a tombstone during Halloween in 2016. The Baby Face Assassin would make fun of the way his Akron enemy dances.

When The Athletic asked them, they admitted having tensions and not being particularly flattered by one another. However, they never hated each other. Their bond beyond basketball was one of mutual respect and appreciation. Thankfully, the reverberating sound didn’t affect their bond.

“The game of basketball don’t last forever. You don’t want to waste the opportunity to be able to have a relationship with someone,” James told The Athletic.

LeBron James and Stephen Curry are ready for the Paris Olympics

The moment Curry and James saw each other in Las Vegas, they felt a sense of fulfillment. They had never been teammates in the past, but every basketball fan was praying to see the tandem to be fighting on the same side. They knew that too. “Let’s have some fun with it,” Curry told LeBron James when they met for Olympics practice.

In their very first game against Canada, Curry and James connected for an unforgettable moment. It was the stuff of dreams. Stephen Curry ran into the lane and threw an alley-oop to James. The Warriors’ keystone’s reaction encapsulated the feelings of millions. That was only the preview of what was to come.

Team USA has yet to lose any of its exhibition games with the newly minted roster. The blend of skills and pride seems to have found a common purpose of restoring the USA’s prominence in world basketball. If James and Curry can play together, then so can everyone else.