LeBron James Says 'We Don't Know' If He'll Get Chance to Face Steph Curry in NBA Again

After the last scheduled game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors this season, LeBron James teased the possibility that he might not get the chance to play against Stephen Curry again.

James told reporters after the Lakers' 119-103 win over Golden State that "we don't know" if he will get the opportunity to square off against his longtime rival.

The Warriors held Curry, who played two games this week after returning from a knee injury, out against James and the Lakers on Thursday night.

Lakers-Warriors Highlights

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Los Angeles and Golden State met four times this season, but James and Curry never played in the same game together. James was out for the regular-season opener due to sciatica. Curry missed the next two games due to a knee injury, then was held out on Thursday as part of his injury management.

Even though Thursday night might have been Golden State's final home game of the season, head coach Steve Kerr explained prior to tipoff that the decision to sit Curry against the Lakers instead of Friday night on the road against the Sacramento Kings was entirely about his health:

"If we were making decisions on [those] criteria, we would have played him tonight. But this was 100 percent about his health and recovery from the two games that he's played and the preparation for next week. This made the most sense."

James and Curry last played against each other was April 3, 2025. The Warriors beat the Lakers 113-106 in a game that saw both legends score a combined 70 points.

The James-Curry rivalry has defined this era of basketball. They have met 55 times between the regular season and playoffs, with Curry owning a 30-25 record in those contests.

Both players have won four NBA championships in their Hall-of-Fame careers. James was named MVP in each of his four Finals wins. Curry was named Finals MVP in 2022.

Even though it would be a surprise if James retired after the season, it can't entirely be ruled out until he makes a public decision one way or another.

In the event James does continue his career into the 2026-27 season, we saw this year that doesn't guarantee he and Curry will be healthy at the same time to square off.

Of course, the Warriors tried in the past to acquire James in a trade. Perhaps he will simply decide to sign with them as a free agent and end his career playing alongside Curry.

It's possible the Warriors and Lakers could meet in the playoffs, but it would require a lot of things to right. The Lakers will likely need to play most if not all of a first-round series against the Houston Rockets without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

Meanwhile, the Warriors will need to win two play-in games on the road just to make the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the West. Then they will have to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round to even have a chance to play the Lakers.

Stranger things have happened, but that would be definitive proof the NBA gods exist and want to see one more playoff series between James and Curry.