Stephen Curry Praises LeBron James’ Work Ethic

The way that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James takes care of his body in order to remain at the top of his game on the court has become almost mythical. That’s in part due to rumors about the money he spends to do so, but also from the results of being an All-NBA player in Year 22, and prepping to become the first player in league history to reach Year 23.

And that myth remained a rumor for Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry until the summer of 2024. Curry and James have one of the greatest on-court rivalries in league history, with them facing off in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-18 and playing countless important regular season and playoff games against one another.

But their time together at the Olympics in Paris — when they led the United States to the Gold medal — helped Curry develop an even deeper appreciation for LeBron than he already had. He spoke about what it was like to be teammates with James and see first-hand the work ethic he has, via the “Mind the Game” podcast Steve Nash:

“I think we’re gonna hype each other up a lot, but walking into the locker room last year during the Olympic journey, we hadn’t played with each other. I had just heard about the work ethic and the sheer volume of time and how he takes care of his body, but when you see somebody on that level, couldn’t beat him to the gym in the morning. It was like there was an energy of we all know this is the stuff that makes you who you are on the court, that’s going to prepare you for the moments when the lights are bright. I don’t even think we talked about it, it was just an unspoken thing, like this is what you do. I learned that early in the process, to know to not take that for granted so that you can be your best self. There’s no accident when it comes to being who you are, no matter how you learn it or how you get there.”

Curry himself has an incredible work ethic — evidenced by him working through early career ankle injuries to become one of the greatest players of all time — so for him to show love to LeBron in that way really speaks to what the Lakers star does to stay at the top of his game.

The Lakers are hopeful to get James back in their lineup soon, but in the meantime, they can know that he’s working tirelessly to be ready to go.

JJ Redick excited about Lakers’ potential

The Lakers mounted an improbable win on Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were all out, leaving Nick Smith Jr., Marcus Smart and Bronny James as head coach JJ Redick’s entire guard rotation on the second night of a back-to-back. It was widely viewed as the Lakers punting the game.

Instead, Smith scored 25 points off the bench, Rui Hachimura tallied 28 points and Deandre Ayton led the way with 29 and 10 rebounds en route to a 123-115 victory over Portland. It brings the Lakers to 6-2 on the season, despite not yet having James in the lineup and Doncic missing four of the eight games.

It speaks to the type of fight the Lakers appear to have this year, something that hasn’t necessarily been true of any Lakers team since 2020. That belief and energy is part of what Redick loves about this group so far this season.