LeBron James should feel bitter about Stephen Curry’s rise

In the latter stages of the fourth quarter of Game 6, Stephen Curry drove to the paint with LeBron James on his back. Sensing the King’s presence, Curry stopped right under the hoop and faked the layup, hoping that James would jump. Instead, James didn’t bite, dwarfing Curry as he waited for the actual shot.

When it came, James smacked it down with authority, turned his head and woofed in Curry’s face.

It was a major statement at the end of another spectacular performance. It was a reminder that this was still LeBron James’ NBA.

It was also symbolic in his own way. James’ anger didn’t merely stem from Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors openly taunting his masculinity and sensitivity earlier in the series. It started before these Finals even began.

All season, James has been on edge whenever Curry’s name came up. When Curry won the first unanimous MVP, James congratulated the Warriors guard, but also questioned the meaning of the world “valuable” in the award.

“I think sometimes the word ‘valuable’ or best player of the year, you can have different results,” James said. “Look at Steph’s numbers. He averaged 30, he led the league in steals, he was 90-50-40 (shooting percentages from the free-throw line, field and 3-pointers), and they won 73 (games). So, I don’t, do you have any debate over that, really, when it comes to that award? But when you talk about most ‘valuable’ then you can have a different conversation, so, take nothing away from him, he’s definitely deserving of that award, for sure.”

The question was valid and James was somewhat gracious, but the end of his response caused a lot of blowback. Many viewed it as an unnecessary swipe at Curry, one made out of pure jealousy. The conclusion was that James had a Stephen Curry problem and was reacting in a childish manner. He wasn’t prepared for the reality of Curry replacing him as the king and face of the NBA.

Curry responded by saying that he’s become adept at tuning people like James out. Since then, the two have enjoyed the NBA version of Jay Z and Drake’s relationship, highlighted by passive aggressiveness and perfunctory niceness.

The backlash against James was understandable. It did seem a little petty of him to bring the subjective nature of the award into question right after Curry unanimously won it. James has been a recipient of the award several times and yet had been quiet about the validity of the award then, so this seemed a pointed attack.

It also came on the heels of James going out of his way to show the world that he was ignoring Curry’s games. As Curry managed and exceeded 400 threes in a year during the last game of the season, James made sure to tweet about Kobe Bryant’s last game instead. A few days before, when Curry dismantled the Spurs, James popped in with a tweet about his love for his ‘Trainwreck’ co-stars. During another Spurs-Warriors tilt, James was tweeting about a classic 1997 Jazz-Rockets game on NBATV. Tweets are tweets, but this was an interesting contrast from the congratulatory tone of a few months prior.

It was as if James wanted everyone to know that he really didn’t care about Curry and the Warriors.

But why should James play nice if he believes he’s been usurped too soon? It seems unbecoming for James to react in such a manner, but that’s exactly how someone in his position should behave when faced with a loss of power. The notion that he should gracefully bow out has more to do with our boredom of his greatness than it does with his ability. We just were ready to move on to a newer, shinier NBA, and Curry is the gateway to that.

Yet even now, there are few other players like James, if any. Because of this, he refuses to leave. These Finals have shown that he’s not willing to abdicate the throne just yet.

Through six games, James has lapped every player on both teams in points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks. He’s posted back-to-back 40 point games while facing elimination against the winningest team in league history. He’s such a force that he’s brought his team back from a 3-1 deficit and has made the improbable scenario of Cleveland actually winning a championship possible. That’s not the type of person that bows out because we say that it’s time for him to go.

On every level, James has been the best. He came into the NBA under much fanfare, but where most wither, he somehow exceeded expectations. He has two rings and many more records. He’s pushed the boundaries of the impact a single player can have on and off the court. He’s made the game his own.

So what reason does he have to step aside so Curry can be the new face of the NBA? That control isn’t given, it’s wrestled away in a messy and unbecoming fashion. If Curry wants it, he’s going to have to take it and break James in doing so. There is and will be a nasty fight for it.

The behavior of both players may seem unbecoming to some. They’ve taunted, goaded and laughed at each other. Curry won last year on James’ home court and Green, ever the agitator, spent the victory celebration mouthing off about how James and the Cavaliers sucked. Curry himself was daring enough to dance on that same court after blowing out the Cavalier in the regular season.

So, James has grown bitter and cold toward him. He’s become jealous, petty and, as his block on Curry showed, very vengeful.

And he has the right to carry out these feelings, because this is how kings fight for power. They don’t just accept their end when they can still dominate. They rage against it.

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