NBA OGs: Friends & Rivals (UNCUT) | LeBron James, Kevin Durant & Stephen Curry

Where I'm at?

You on the right.

No. Your right, my left?

Yeah, right there.

Oh!

We got a title?

NBA OGs, take 1.

First up, I want to talk about the photo a little bit, right? The precipice is that it mirrored the '92 Bird, Magic, Michael photo, right? That was the beginning of it all, right? USAB, NBA players, guys of your caliber playing with each other. International game blew up. So here we are, 30-something later, 30 years later, stars here. Just kind of talk about that.

I mean, what is— it speaks for itself, I think, in terms of how iconic that picture is. The guys that represent our country with the Dream Team. And to know Everything they did in their respective careers, the resumes, the championships, all that type of stuff, like they said, the mutual respect for each other to understand what it meant to have USA across the chest. And like, that is an iconic picture that we are all probably fans of growing up. And to be in a position where we get to recreate it is an honor, I think, just 'cause it's a kind of a timestamp for us, which is dope.

What about everybody getting to play with other great players together? Like, you got, like, a guy like Anthony Edwards, you're his favorite player, playing together. I know you love playing with J-Kidd. Like, that opportunity through the years and now.

I mean, it's just a blessing, to be honest, you know, to be able to— I mean, your whole life you want to be able to play, you know, around great players, great minds, great basketball people that just love the game. And, you know, Team USA has always given us that opportunity to be able just to be alongside you know, some of the greatest ever played this game and be able to just be around them, see how they work, how they prepare, you know, and then it all goes down to just one common goal, and that's just winning the gold medal. So, you know, it was pretty dope.

You know, you see these guys come up, you know, from high school, you see them in college grind up to be who they are right now, and the stamina that you have to still be in the league for 20 years, What's that, 14, 15 for you?

Just going into 16, yeah.

16, you know? And that love of the game will keep these guys, you know, getting up in the morning. And that's inspiring to everybody, not just basketball players, but everybody from all walks of life, you know? So it's just a joy being around people like that.

Talk about the respect you have for each other's game on the court, but as important as Madden appears.

I mean, I think the game speaks for itself. I think we will be doing, each other a disservice if we just talked about the game. I mean, I think just the way how we handle business, you know, off the floor, how we've, you know, built ourselves up and our families and our culture and our communities. You know, I think the game is gonna speak for itself. That's gonna live, you know, forever. I mean, I think we've cemented ourselves whenever it comes— when it comes to the game of basketball and what we do. But I think the admiration comes from, you know, like K just said, just the longevity. You know, to be able to wake up every single day and be able to still have the drive to wanna be great. You know, to wanna be legendary every single day. Like, we've been in this league over 15 years plus, you know, respectively. And we've seen talent and guys come in and, you know, be in for 4 or 5 years, or some can crack, you know, 8 years, maybe even maybe 10 years or whatever. And, you know, guys start to fizzle out for some—

Stephen Curry.

You know, reason, whatever, that's, you know, that's to be whatever to be known or to be said in that order. But, you know, for us to still be playing at this level, you know, in our respective careers, but the drive that we have and being alongside him, seeing just— you see why. You see why. You know, everybody sees the finished product when we get out on the floor, we put the uniforms on, but, you know, the work that goes into it You know, to even get to that point, that's respected, you know. You know, people always talk about, like, would you rather be loved or respected more? And then for me, it's always about respect. People can lie about love all the time, say they love you and all that stuff. People will lie to your face, tell you they love you, but you can always gauge when somebody's not respecting you, you know. And I think we've earned that respect.

How about you guys' respect for each other?

I mean, I think with K kind of mentioned just we all have like an experience of either watching each other play and knowing each other when we first met to now. And like that evolution is just so dope to watch because you truly understand what it takes to be great at this level and balance everything that you have to as a man, as a father, husband, businessman, like whatever box you check, like it's, It's a lot. And I think to gracefully handle all of those roles in your life and be able to put on for your family, keep raising the bar, what it means to be a professional athlete in this day and age, the pressures that you feel to have to keep delivering over and over and over again in all of those different areas. Like, not a lot of people can sit in these chairs and be able to talk that language. So it is really, Amazing to know, like, where we come from. I remember, like, playing AAU against K back in the day. Going, "Bron," the first time I asked you to send a jersey to Davidson for this auction I had, and you sent it, like, 2 days later. I was a nervous sophomore in college, like, really trying to come into my own and that whole deal. And just the way that he treated me back in the day, like, it meant a lot to me to give me confidence to be able to get to this level. And then the battles on the court, too. Like, You look at each other a lot of different ways when you're on the cross line or when you're teammates or whatnot, but that respect is always there. So just to see how the whole package has evolved over the course of our careers is— I don't know if we really, like, even right now, like, we still have a lot to accomplish on the court. This is a good moment to kind of take a breath and talk about it a little bit, but I think that time's coming even down the road when it's all said and done even more so just because— Right. It is truly— I hate talking about ourselves like that, but it's an iconic kind of thing to be able to, you know, be able to talk about basketball life the way that we can and give honor to all the people that have helped us get here. So it's pretty dope to know, you know, what we've been able to accomplish.

Years of just hearing these guys talk, hearing Bron talk coming up, and he always emphasized keeping the main thing the main thing. And you see how much balance, you know, these guys have with their lives. I don't have kids and family and a wife, but these guys, we all businessmen, we all doing things off the floor. But to still get up to go to the gym at 6:00 AM, to still wanna put up 1,000 shots every day, to still love the game the way you love it with all the distractions that's being thrown at you, the high expectations from everybody around you.

Yeah.

But to keep that joy and love for the game first is something something that I admire, and that's what's keeping me going, keeping all of us going. You know, it's that love of the game, and that shines bright every time you see them step on the floor. And then when you see them as teammates and how they prepare for those games, it just brings a smile to my face because, you know, these guys are pushing— we all pushing the game forward. You know, we at the point of our careers where, you know, we got— [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] You know, guys that were kids when we were first coming in, now they're grown-ups and we helped them, you know, at some point inspired them throughout their lives to wanna be NBA players. And then you see that full circle and we still here with them. Son playing on the same team, you know. Like you said, Ant was 12, 13 years old probably when he seen me play for the first time. And damn, to hoop with these guys and still be at that level, you know, it's cool. But that's from just keeping the main thing the main thing.

If you could take one skill or trait from the other guy, what would it be?

I mean, his jumper for sure. His shot. And KD's pull-up hesi left. For sure. Pull-up hesi left in transition. Give me that. Give me that for sure.

For sure. I'm gonna take, yeah, the hesi left is undefeated. I'm gonna take K's block work.

Yeah.

I don't got that in my game. And I'm gonna take— shoot, how do you dumb your game? I'm gonna take Bron's just IQ. Like, that's— that can come out a lot of different ways, how you manage a game. I've never said he's the one dude, like, for 48 minutes, the ultimate challenge of being able to control the tempo and the flow of a game single-handedly is insane. So I'd take those two skill sets.

I would say it was Steph.

My vert. My athletic ability.

Yeah, that's probably the first thing. Probably with Steph, I would say the quick twitch on a jump shot. Like, you know, coming off of screens and being able to set your feet so quick and just be on balance and knock it down. Then Bron's just ambidextrous with both hands. Like, can finish with all types of waves with his left. I wish I can kind of have that English with the left a little better than I got it now, but just— But that's the work that these guys put in every single day.

All right, so you've all beat each other in big spots. Talk about, you know, I've heard in series there's animosity grows, you get sick of playing the same guy each time. So take us back. Are there any stories or moments when you played each other where you're kind of like, "Ah," like take us inside when you went against each other, that competition.

I mean, that's damn near every time. I mean, you guys, you focus on the, like the Finals appearances or like playoff. Appearances, but that's like every time you have that— that uncomfortable feeling because you know who you're going up against. So it doesn't— it didn't matter if it was Finals appearances between, you know, my team against Steph with or without K, or my Finals appearance, you know, against K, whatever. But like, it's like— that's like every single time. You— you don't sleep great the night before when you play greatness the next day.

Mm-hmm.

You just don't. So you already on edge. Like, that breakfast, if the kids say something wrong or your lady say something wrong, it could trigger you. And it's not even they fault, you know? And they have no idea. So, like, it's like every single time. Regular season, postseason, playing game, Finals games. It don't matter. So to have this moment where you can sleep damn good at night knowing who you linked up with the next day is— Yeah. You cherish that. Cuz you just know how many sleepless nights you had the night before, you know, going against greatness. That's just the lay of the land. That's how the game works.

How about you guys?

Yeah, it's just, yeah, like he said, it's a nerve-wracking feeling cuz you know what you thinking and how you wanna approach the game. And you know you got some psychos on the other end that's trying to, you know, rip your heart out too. And you gotta build up that dislike for it. You know, guys you're competing against. Not in a bad way, but when you're out on the floor, you can't be friends, you can't be cool with these guys, you can't admire 'em while you're on the court. After the game's over, you know, that's cool, but when you're on the floor with these guys, you— they out to rip your heart out, you know? That's what I love about these guys, 'cause they nice dudes, but they killers too, you know? And that's why they still at the level that we're at, because you got that type of mentality. And it's a dog-eat-dog world in the NBA. Yeah. You know what I mean? And especially when you're at that level of greatness, like, you don't want nobody to take anything that you got. And that's the type of respect that you have for the game, but that's gonna always keep that elite level, you know, when you run up against these guys. And, you know, that fire is never— they'll never lose that fire. And that's, you know, that's what you want as a competitor.

That's why we still going.

Exactly.

That's why we still going. If you don't have that burning feeling, like, in your stomach, on your nerves, like, before you competein' versus the best, then, like, I guess at that point you might know it's over with. Yeah. Like, you know what I'm sayin'? Like, if you not gettin' up to play KD or Steph or some of the great talents that we have in our league, it's like, I done lost my drive of what this game was all about, and that's the competition. That's the dog-eat-dog world. Like K said, it's just like that competitive, you know, unbalance that you feel, you know? And then, boom, jump ball hit. You like, "OK, we in it." Like, we in it, you know? So that's that. Absolutely.

You know, it leads to my next question, 'cause I interviewed Bird once and he admitted, he was like, "How many times has he said, 'Fuck Magic'?" And he was pissed 'cause he won as many titles, right? But he said in the end, he was happy 'cause Magic made him better. Separate interview, Magic said, "You best believe I checked the box score. Damn, Bird dropped 30, 10-7 again. Damn, Celtics won." Oh, hell yeah. Hell yeah. Some of that with you guys.

Draymond. Steph and KD, 'cause I might have 6 threes right now. No, but no, absolutely. Absolutely. Like, you know, we all in the position where we think we should or felt like we had an opportunity to have more rings, like, because of each other. Like, you know what I'm saying? And that's, yeah, you have that feeling though, especially when you in it. Like, those 4 straight years, Cleveland versus Golden State. Like, if you wasn't wearing wine and gold or you wasn't wearing yellow and blue, like, Like, it was literally like East Coast versus West Coast. It was like a rap beef. Golden State owned the West Coast and the Cavs owned the East Coast. It was like a rap beef.

I remember in 2012, we had just lost to y'all in the Finals. And I had, like, came to Miami, like, just to work out, hang out before the season. And that was just all I was on, looking at the arena like, "Damn." You know what I'm saying? Like—

They nice.

They good, though. You know what I'm sayin'? I gotta bring my A-game every game. And then you lookin' at the box score, you wanna match what these dudes do.

For sure.

For sure. It's not like a— like, I want what they have. Like, I wanna knock them out they spot. Or, like, I know they elite. You can't knock these guys out of nowhere. Like, but I want— if Brian had 30, 10, and 9, I'm like, "All right, lemme see what I can do tomorrow." Not on no selfish thing. I'm not tryna get in the way of the game, but I know that I got so much impact on my team and my game, I wanna— keep us at that level too. Same with Steph. You see him make 7, 8 threes in a game and end up with 39 points, 8 assists. It's just like, "All right, I gotta come with it too." And that's how you pushing and driving one another without being on the same team, but without it being like a feud or anything. It's just like, I want to be on that same level. I wanna stay on that elite level as long as I can because I see them doing it every night.

Steph, the inside on that.

I mean, the— I forgot that y'all played the Finals in '12. That was, like, crazy how long ago that was. But, like, watching that and then watching our 4 years— like, the Finals brings out— it's like the crescendo, obviously, of everything that they just talked about. And, like, that idea of, like, the rising tide raises all ships is exact— you carry that all year. Like, offseason workouts, you might think it's just a pure, "I'm just here working on my game," but in the back of your mind, His face is in your head. Kyrie's face, like, you're thinking about who you're gonna have to beat to get to the ultimate goal, and you can't shake it. And in the moment, it does mess with you a little bit, 'cause it can change your attitude on a day-to-day basis. Something can trigger you for no reason. But it brings the best out of you, too, over the course of the year. And I wouldn't trade those experiences for nothing, 'cause it's the ultimate, you know, competition. It's the ultimate adrenaline. It's the ultimate test of who you are as a person. And I feel like it's, it's, uh, something we'll cherish for a long time just because of how much you— and how long we carry that, um, for sure.

So I know you're all historians of the game, and what you guys are still doing late in your careers is incredible. Like, a lot of guys are done or almost done, but you're, you're still at the top. So talk about not wanting to give up that mantle, that next generation that torch and still playing at this level. But then for us, maybe mention some of the younger guys that you do love right here.

I mean, I don't even look at it as like not giving up the mantle or anything like that. I just think it's just like, this is who we are. Like, we just hoopers. Like, we're naturally born driven hoopers. Like, we feel a certain way if we not in the gym. We feel a certain way if we not putting in the work, you know, in the weight room or with your body or with your mind. Like, You know, you could be at home just even just watching basketball, no matter what the hell it is. It could be, you know, a high school basketball game. It could be the Big Three. It could be anything that's going— Like, we're just naturally born hoopers who love the game and refuse to cheat the game while we're playing. That's what it is. And we've been given the ability from the man above to be able to— use what we've got and then just take it to a whole 'nother level. You know, so, you know, we definitely, you know, are like fans of like Ant-Man and Shay. You know, some of the young guys in our league, you know, JT, Jayson Tatum, you know. I know he's not super young, but he young to us. [LAUGHTER] You know, he young to us, you know. You know, and the guys that's like coming up in the ranks and just doing great things, man. It's, um, You know, we hope that we just have inspired them at some point in their lives. They just carry it on to when, you know, when we decide that, you know, we're done, that they can keep this beautiful game going. Not just the league, not just the NBA. I think that's so small-minded, but just the game of basketball, the purity of the game. We hope that continues to go to drive the passion. That's what's most important.

It sounds— [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] No, I said it sounds super cliché when you say it now being in our seats. When I, like, talked to Kobe when I was coming up, or Shaq, or even my dad, I was like, everybody wants to leave the game in a better place than when they found it. And to your point about the guys that Ant, the way he talk about you is—

Every day. Every day.

Oh, he love you. It's a real thing. But it's a real thing. Awesome. If Ant is motivated and driven because he got to watch a born hooper play night in, night out. So— It's a healthy kind of balance of trying to obviously maintain the level that we expect ourselves to be because of the work that we put in. Understanding that the league, you know, there's so much young talent out there and it's— the game has changed even from, you know, when we were from our Finals runs and, you know, every year it's like some new styles, some new, you know, young energy coming through that challenges you. So trying to, meet that moment too is a dope challenge for us. But then also knowing, like, we know it's not gonna be around forever. So I feel like it gives you perspective on enjoying the game now because seeing these young dudes come up and understanding how much talent there is in the years that we've been in this thing, it is a reminder, like, every day I get to go hoop and put shots up, every— Every day. We were shooting yesterday, we were missing our shot total numbers, and K kept saying, "Oh, yes, more shots for us." And that made me laugh and, like, smile.

I was like, "Yeah, you're right.

We get to—" You know, I'm here hoopin', workin', tryna still get better. And this is my happy place. So it just reminds you of, like, this is not gonna be around forever and to enjoy every minute of it, 'cause soon we're gonna be— I'm not gonna be the— we're not gonna be the bitter old heads. Can we all agree on that?

No.

We're not gonna be the bitter old heads that comin' back hatin' on the younger— the younger generation, but definitely appreciation and admiration for what they're able to do too.

I look at this like, we travel around the world, you see so many peaks and mountains and valleys, and it's like, we all have built up this our own mountain, you know, in this basketball world. And it's like, it's gonna be hard for anybody to like knock that down. You see what I'm saying? And you got these other guys that are building, they in the valleys right now, but they're trying to build their mountains up as well. So we sit on our own mountains in this world of basketball, and we want to continue to keep building. But at the same time, you see the guys that are coming up and building their own place in the game as well, and you appreciate that about the game. You know how hard it is to sit on that peak and mountain that you're on as well, you know? So it's a matter of, uh, continue to give back to the game and continue to see the— where the growth of the game is going, but also realize, like, I built up my place here too, you know what I mean? And it's pretty cool knowing that we get respect from the younger generation, but they want to get up to where we are too. So, you know, but we still working, we still here, we still grinding, and we still want to be who we are for as long as we can.

Appreciate it. Appreciate you standing up here very much. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Thank you so much.