Cam Newton Says LeBron James Is a Better Player Than Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry has made no secret of his love for the Carolina Panthers, but that is not enough to convince Panthers quarterback Cam Newton that the Golden State Warriors star is better than LeBron James.

Speaking on WFNZ-AM radio's The Mac Attack, the reigning NFL MVP said (via ESPN.com's David Newton), "LeBron is [the best player]. He's 6'7", athletic, can do anything on the court. But LeBron is not on the best team. Going back to what I was saying, the power of team will always be better than the power of skill."

Newton did cover all of his bases during the interview with this prelude before declaring James the better basketball player: "A person asked me, 'Well, is Steph Curry the best basketball player on the planet? I said, 'No.' I said, 'Steph Curry is the best basketball player on the best team on the planet.'"

After declaring James the best individual basketball player, Newton made sure to emphasize the importance of team to essentially say he prefers Curry's situation to the one James has in Cleveland.

It's an argument of semantics, showing Newton is a smart man who did not sell out either one of his friends in the discussion.

Curry attended high school and college in North Carolina, and he has not hidden his love for the Panthers, as shown by this image from his wife's Instagram account last Thanksgiving when Carolina was playing the Dallas Cowboys:

The Panthers even got Curry to bang their "keep pounding" drum before they faced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 in February.

James has outplayed Curry in the NBA Finals; the two-time defending NBA MVP is averaging only 16 points with five turnovers per game through three contests.

Newton's comments that the team trumps the individual have rung true thus far in the NBA Finals, as the Warriors hold a 2-1 series edge despite Curry's inability to get going.