LeBron James starting a podcast about basketball had everyone wondering if he would tell a bunch of his “infamous lies” or be honest about his feelings toward the NBA. He kicked off his podcaster journey by calling Steph Curry and Allen Iverson the two “biggest influential guys” in NBA history.

The pilot episode of Mind The Game with James and retired hooper JJ Redick was released on Tuesday (March 19), and they discussed topics such as what makes a great basketball player, basketball IQ, Jayson Tatum’s early success, and influence. Bron made sure to highlight what Michael Jordan has done for the NBA, but he selected Curry and Iverson as the two guys who stand atop the list when it comes to assessing influence.“One, they’re 6’3, 6’4,” he said, which Redick quickly countered and joked that the Golden State Warriors guard isn’t 6’4. “They were just so relatable and kids felt like they could be them. They were guys that were not always counted on. They were small in stature and they just

LeBron James continued his praise, specifically noting Allen Iverson’s on-court style. “You got AI who has an unbelievable crossover, corn rows, arm sleeves,” he said. “Everyone wears arm sleeves now because of Allen Iverson. And he’s going in the trenches laying it up over bigs.”

As for Steph Curry, he naturally praised the four-time NBA champion’s elite shooting ability. “And now you have Steph who’s shooting over the Empire State Building. It’s like, those two are the two most influential when you say the game, how they changed the game, and the kids. Those are two guys that you wanted to watch every single night,” he said.

James gave Curry a shoutout in another part of the episode, citing that his long-range shooting ability forced every team to prioritize that aspect of the game much more. As a result of three-pointers becoming so much more important, “no lead is safe” when teams have a way to score more points and remain competitive. Watch the full episode below.

In some high-stakes matchups, LeBron James has witnessed Steph Curry’s play style firsthand. They competed against one another in four straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018. Curry has the edge over Bron, powering the Golden State Warriors to win three out of the four against the Cleveland Cavaliers during that period. However, James’ 2016 Finals victory was arguably the most significant, as he led the Cavaliers to overcome a three-one deficit for the first time in NBA Finals history.

Since joining the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron has yet to lose a series to Steph and the Warriors. They competed in the 2021 Play-In Tournament and the Divisional Round of the 2023 Playoffs. With both teams currently at the bottom of the Play-In standings for the Western Conference, fans might just see this legendary matchup happen again.