LeBron James vs. Steph Curry

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and in this installment of versus we’re comparing future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Steph Curry.

Arguably two of the most prolific NBA players, they’re set to clash once again in the 2023 NBA playoffs in what could be the last clash of these Titans. We’ll be looking at two head-to-head in the playoffs while also taking into account individual achievements over their careers.

Round 1: 2015 Finals

The 2014-15 season saw LeBron James return to the Cleveland Cavaliers coming off a Finals appearance with the Miami Heat. Shortly after his return, the Cavaliers acquired Kevin Love, setting up a new Big Three along with James and Kyrie Irving. They made an immediate impact on the team as they skyrocketed to 2nd in the Eastern Conference from 10th in the standings the year before. In the playoffs the Cavaliers were able to make it through to the Finals with relative ease losing only a total of 4 games prior including a sweep of the first place Atlanta Hawks.

Big changes were also made for the Warriors. Critically they brought in former NBA player Steve Kerr as head coach who was instrumental in re-working the Warriors playing style to maximize Curry’s and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson’s shooting abilities. The Warriors also climbed the standings owning the league's best winning percentage. In the postseason they were able to cruise to the Finals with only three losses and dispatching the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals.

The first three games of the NBA Finals were extremely close as games 1 and 2 went to overtime with each team receiving a win. The Cavaliers managed to take game 3 by 5 points to secure a 2-1 series lead and that’s all they’d accomplish as the Warriors stormed back with a 21 point win in game 4 and would take the remaining two games around 10 points. Despite James putting up huge numbers it wasn’t enough to stop the Warriors from winning its first championship in 40 years. This would mark Curry’s first championship victory over the King and also his first point for this round.

WINNER: Curry - James 0 / Curry 1

Round 2: 2016 Finals

James and the Cavaliers would run it back in 2016. They would improve slightly in the standings finishing first in the Eastern Conference. Notably they had a coaching change when they fired David Blatt and replaced him with Tyronn Lue. James finished the season averaging 25.3 points, 6 rebounds and 7.4 assists on 52% shooting. In the playoffs the Cavaliers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals with little resistance having swept both Detroit and Atlanta. In fact the Raptors were the only team to give the Cavaliers any trouble but they managed to close out the series in 6 games.

You could say the Warriors had a good season, a great season, actually the best season as they set the record for most regular season wins with 73. During that time Curry made 402 3-pointers, beating his own record. He averaged 30.1 points and had a 50% field goal percentage, 45% 3 pointer percentage, and 91% free throw percentage becoming the seventh player to put up those numbers. Curry and the Warriors looked to waltz back to the Finals but ran into trouble against the Thunder in the Western Conference Final when they were down 3-1 in the series but managed to pull off the comeback.

It seemed inevitable the Warriors would steamroll the Cavaliers in the Finals given their amazing regular season and after the first two games it sure looked that way. Even though Curry wasn’t playing especially well, the Warriors were able to handedly defeat the Cavs. While they had a big game 3 win and LeBron putting up 32 points, the Dubs managed a 3-1 series lead but someway, somehow the Cavs tied the series with two huge games from James putting up 41 points in games 5 and 6. Game 7 is perhaps best known for James’ chase down block against Andre Iguodala and Kyrie Irving’s 3 pointer over Curry. With that, LeBron and co. complete the comeback to claim Cleveland’s first championship in 52 years and give James the point for this round.

WINNER: James - James 1 / Curry 1

Round 3: 2017 Finals

Fresh of their championship victory the Cavs started off strong but towards the latter part of the season they struggled quite a bit. They went 10-14 over their last 24 games including losing their final four games. James was as consistent as he’s been over the last few seasons averaging 26.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists. On their way to the Finals the Cavs had only 1 loss and James had some monster performances such as scoring 41 points against the Pacers in the first round. He also passed Michael Jordan as the all time leading scorer in the playoffs during the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston.

The Warriors perhaps made their biggest acquisition when they signed Kevin Durant creating a new superteam along with Curry, Thompson and Green. Although this Warriors team didn’t come close to their previous season success they still finished at the top of the standings. Curry managed to set a record number of 3-pointers in a single game with 13. His numbers dipped a little bit but still managed to average 25.3 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds. En route to the finals, the Dubs were a perfect 12-0 managing to sweep Portland, Utah and San Antonio.

With the addition of KD, the Warriors were just too much for the Cavs to handle. Even though James put up some impressive numbers including several 30-plus points games. Curry, for his part, didn’t need to be as high scoring as Durant handled most of the load. Still Curry managed to hit some big shots and in the end the Warriors managed to defeat LeBron and the Cavs in five games. Score another point for Curry.


WINNER: Curry - James 1 / Curry 2

Round 4: 2018 Finals

The 2017-18 season brought about many changes for the Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving was sent to the Boston Celtics and made a huge multiplayer trade at the trade deadline that shook up their roster. The Cavs dropped a bit in the standings finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference but James had some massive games including notching 57 points against the Wizards. Overall, he finished with averaging 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.2 assists. Despite having a weaker team, the Cavs breezed through to the Conference Finals, including a sweep of the first place Raptors. They had a tougher time against the Celtics and needed seven games to dispatch them with James putting up several 40-plus points performances.


The Warriors maintained the same core as the previous season with Durant, Thompson, Green and Curry. Their production dipped a little bit as the team dealt with several injuries but still managed to place second in the Western Conference. Curry had some big performances including a 49 point night against the Celtics. However, he sprained his MCL and would miss 6 weeks of action only returning in the second round of the playoffs. Still, the Warriors didn’t run into trouble in the postseason until the Conference Finals against the Rockets. Curry came up huge in game 6 and 7 to send the Dubs to their fourth straight Finals appearance to take on a familiar face.

Those expecting a hard fought series much like in 2016 were sorely disappointed. The closest Cleveland came to challenging the champs was in game 1. Possibly one of the greatest meme-able moments is LeBron James’ frustration with J.R. Smith who forgot the games’ score and could have put the Cavs up in the series. They would go on to lose in overtime. Despite James putting up some serious numbers, including 51 points in the game 1 loss, it wasn’t enough to stop the Warriors from sweeping the Cavs to repeat as champs. Even though Curry had a poor game 3, he set a record in game 2 for 9 three pointers in a Finals series and had 37 points in game 4 and with that another point for this round.


WINNER: Curry - James 1 / Curry 3

Round 5: Career Performance

It’s no secret that James is a once in a lifetime talent. Huge expectations have been placed on him since he was in highschool. He was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers and made an immediate impact upon entering the NBA. Although he didn’t win his first championship until he joined forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, there’s no denying his greatness. He’s won 4 NBA championships, 4 Finals MVP, and has made 8 straight Finals appearances. He’s been league MVP multiple times, multiple All-Star appearances, multiple All-NBA teams. In international basketball he’s won 2 Olympic gold medals. In February 2023 he became the all time leading scorer with 38,388 points to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Frankly we could create a whole video for his accomplishments alone.


When Curry was drafted 7th overall by Golden State back in 2009 not many people would have put him on the same level as James. Most probably would have thought he’s a good outside shooter and left it at that. Curry has shown time and again that he’s so much more than perimeter shooting. He has the same amount of championships as James and three of them have come at the expense of his rival. Curry and the Warriors style of play has no doubt changed the nature of the game helping proliferate the 3-ball. He's a two time league MVP while also being the first unanimous MVP selection in 2016. In December 2021 he became the all time leading in made 3-pointers passing Ray Allen with 2,974. In the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs he set a record for most points in a game 7 with 50 against the Sacramento Kings. Incredibly, he only made 7 3-pointers with the majority of his points coming from inside the paint.


It should come as no surprise that LeBron takes this round as very few players can manage what he’s done or match his longevity. Curry has shown that he’s no slouch and can stand tall with the best of the game.

WINNER: James - James 2 / Curry 3

Both were part of the NBA 75th anniversary team and much of their rivalry has played out on the biggest stage, the NBA Finals. At the end of the day basketball is a team sport and when everything’s on the line Curry has been able to come out on top more often than James when they go head-to-head. Regardless of who you think the better player is, we’re just excited to see how the next chapter unfolds between these two greats.