6 NBA Players Who've Had Real Rivalries with LeBron James

Add up all of LeBron James’ achievements and accolades—the four rings, the four MVPs, the 19 (soon to be 20) All-Star nods, the all-time scoring crown and so much more—and an undeniable truth crystallizes: This is a player without peers.

Rivals, though?

Yeah, he’s had a few of those. After all, you don’t wear the “face of the league” mantle for the better part of two decades without making a handful of enemies along the way. And you don’t spend all those seasons playing high-stakes games without running into some of the same opponents several times over. We’ll run through the most memorable ones in a moment. But first, a clarification.

We’re not interested in isolated pop-offs or friendly competition. We want animosity and/or repeated clashes in which familiarity bred something close to contempt—even if it came with respect.

That’s why Dillon Brooks and his bear-poking don’t appear here. Nor will we see Stanley Johnson who, to hear him tell it, was “definitely in [James’] head.” Brandon Jennings, who was so sure he’d knock LeBron out of the playoffs in six games, is also out of consideration. Ditto for very good players who’ve long been associated with James, but were ultimately more like pals than sworn foes, like Carmelo Anthony.

Let’s scan back across the years to highlight James’ greatest rivals.

Stephen Curry1 OF 6

There’s really no other place to start than with the player who faced LeBron James in four straight NBA Finals, winning three of them.

Just imagine what James’ legacy, already almost bulletproof, would look like if Curry hadn’t been a key factor in preventing him from upping his championship total from four to six or seven. Those extra titles Curry prevented James from securing are perhaps the only reason there’s still any uncertainty when it comes to the GOAT debate.

It’s remarkable to note this relationship goes all the way back to when James, already an established superstar, sat courtside for one of Curry’s breakout collegiate games. Could James have imagined that the rail-thin kid in the jersey that looked three sizes too big would line up across from him for a total of 22 Finals games…and beat him in 15 of them?

Curry’s significantly smaller stature meant he and James rarely squared up on the floor for individual matchups, and it’s also true that Curry’s reinforcements were typically stronger than James’ when they were competing for rings. But these two accounted for eight of the 11 championships won between 2012 and 2022, and only once during that stretch did neither James nor Curry appear in the Finals.

They basically spent a decade vying for rings as the league’s two biggest winners.

For what it’s worth, James may have gotten the last laugh. His Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Curry’s Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 2023 playoffs, and it’s hard to imagine either of them returning to the Finals with their teams both struggling to secure Play-In position this season.

Paul Pierce2 OF 6

When pressed on the identity of his biggest rival back in 2013, James actually had a name in mind. “I would say that I don’t really have an individual rivalry,” he said on NBA TV, via Jay King, then of MassLive.com. “I think the closest would be Paul Pierce.”

Years later, Pierce was on board with the idea, saying on ESPN’s NBA Countdown: “It’s me of course.”

This isn’t just a rivalry established by bilateral proclamation. A handful of key facts support James and Pierce’s claims.

For starters, nobody has more victories against James during the regular season than Pierce, who went 21-18 in 39 meetings. LeBron has the edge in playoff wins with 17 to Pierce’s 13, but it took a while for the league’s all-time leading scorer to break through against those tough Boston Celtics teams.

Led by Pierce, Boston knocked James’ Cavs out of the 2008 playoffs in a seven-game second-round series. Boston booted LeBron again in 2010, also sending Cleveland home in the conference semifinals. That’d be the series to which Pierce was referring when he asked in that same NBA Countdown segment: “Why do you think he moved to Miami? I sent the U-Haul.”

With the Heat, James eliminated Pierce and the Celtics from postseason play in 2011 and 2012, with that last series all but ending an era in Boston. James averaged 33.6 points in that seven-game tilt, easily besting Pierce’s 18.0.

Pierce is a Hall of Famer who had already made a pair of All-Star teams by the time James entered the league in 2003-04. That he was last a regular starter in 2014-15, the year Curry began his string of playoff meetings with James, speaks to LeBron’s unmatched staying power.

There aren’t many players with rivals spread across multiple eras.

Lance Stephenson3 OF 6

Roughly a decade ago, a young Paul George and a defensively dominant Indiana Pacers team squared off against LeBron James and the Miami Heat in three straight playoffs, including back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals in 2013 and 2014.

Though the enduring memory from those meetings should have been George’s arrival as a star (validated by James’ approval in one iconic sequence) or Roy Hibbert’s brief, brilliant run as one of the most important defensive players in the league, most people probably remember something else.

Six years ago today, Lance Stephenson pulled out his secret weapon against LeBron 😗💨 <a href=”https://t.co/B2XDh9gLvT”>pic.twitter.com/B2XDh9gLvT</a>

James’ amused reaction basically invalidates Lance Stephenson as a traditional rival. It’s a non-verbal Can you believe this guy? James knew he didn’t need to take this particular challenger seriously. The expression and subtle head shake show he’s above being baited.

Still, it’s an unforgettable moment, and any chronicling of LeBron’s foes has to include the one who subscribed to the age-old maxim of “If you can’t beat ’em, blow air in their ear.”

Hard feelings actually extended back before this incident, as Stephenson made a choking gesture on the sideline after James missed a free throw in 2012.

“Lance Stephenson? You want a quote about Lance Stephenson?” James said after the Heat’s next practice. “I’m not even going to give him the time. Knock it off.”

The two ultimately mended fences, as Stephenson later joined James for a full season with the 2018-19 Los Angeles Lakers. Had he lasted one more year with the squad, he would have collected a ring in 2019-20, but Stephenson wound up playing in China that season.

One could argue he blew it.

DeShawn Stevenson4 OF 6

This one comes perilously close to the isolated beefs we disqualified at the outset, but a handful of factors distinguish DeShawn Stevenson as more of a rival to James than Brandon Jennings, Dillon Brooks or Stanley Johnson.

Like the beef between LeBron and Lance Stephenson, this one was built on repeated playoff meetings.

James’ Cavs faced the Washington Wizards three straight times in the playoffs from 2006 to 2008, the last two of which featured Stevenson on the roster. Familiarity bred contempt and some wild talk, as Stevenson said of James in 2008: “He’s overrated. And you can say I said that.”

That was after James missed a potential game-winning three (with Stevenson on him) on March 13, 2008.

Things escalated from there, with everyone from Soulja Boy to Jay-Z getting involved.

James’ name even came up after Stevenson won a title with the Dallas Mavericks…against LeBron’s Miami Heat.

Stevenson has since spoken regretfully about what went on between him and James, which is actually more verification that this was, in fact, a rivalry. If it’s still newsworthy to discuss an on-court feud a decade after the fact, there was something there.

Kevin Durant5 OF 6

Is a rivalry still a rivalry if it lacks antagonism?

James and Kevin Durant, arguably the two best players of their era, have rarely been cast as each other’s enemies. KD has never tried to irritate LeBron on the floor like Stephenson (or Stevenson), and he hasn’t piped up about ending eras or sending James packing like Pierce.

The closest thing we get to animosity came in 2012, when Durant said it was difficult to see James every day with the Olympic team just weeks after LeBron beat his Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals. But that’s more indicative of Durant’s general competitiveness than any specifically negative feeling toward James.

Still, this exercise would feel incomplete without Durant.

In addition to that 2012 Finals meeting, KD faced LeBron two more times in the championship round, winning two rings and two Finals MVPs when the Golden State Warriors downed the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018. Those victories contribute to Durant’s 9-5 playoff record against James, though LeBron has the edge in regular-season meetings with an 18-7 mark.

James and Durant went a half-decade without sharing the floor, a period that spanned from Christmas Day in 2018 to October 26, 2023. That hiatus may have weakened the rivalry, but the fact that it was such a spectacle when they finally faced off again is good evidence of their connection. As is the embrace they shared afterward, complete with a Bird-Magic comparison from TNT’s Reggie Miller that didn’t feel like a stretch.

KD 🤝 LeBron<br><br>Nothing but respect. <a href=”https://t.co/XvGGD1gWLH”>pic.twitter.com/XvGGD1gWLH</a>

Michael Jordan6 OF 6

The inclusion of a player who has never squared off against James and who hasn’t even set foot on an NBA court since 2003 isn’t as galaxy-brained as it seems. After all, no player—active or otherwise—is more consistently used as a point of comparison for James than Michael Jordan.

The ongoing and likely unresolvable GOAT debate never pits James against Curry, Pierce or anyone else. For example, type in “Tim Duncan vs. LeBron” as a search term and you get mostly box scores, not thousand-word diatribes or a litany of talking heads chattering about who was better.

The James-Jordan discussion, on the other hand, rages on in barber shops, bars and studio shows.

LeBron’s significantly longer (and uninterrupted by baseball) career gives him an edge in most counting stats. He has more points, rebounds, assists and blocks than Jordan did, plus five additional All-Star nods, eight more All-NBA selections and superior scoring efficiency.

Jordan, though, has the higher scoring average, more rings, more MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year award and the distinction of never losing in the Finals.

If you think it’s difficult to compare players who dominated such different eras and whose cases force a tricky balancing act between longevity and peaks, you’re right. It’s why, unlike virtually every other rival of James’, Jordan remains the one that can’t be dismissed.

It’s also why, after collecting his third title and the first in Cleveland Cavaliers history, James said in 2016: “My motivation is the ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”

He probably wasn’t talking about Carlos Boozer.