A rivalry, a 'bromance' and a failed reunion: Steph, KD and LeBron reunite for All-Star Weekend - ESPN

IN THE MOMENTS after LeBron James topped Stephen Curry's 37 points with an ageless 42-point, 17-rebound effort to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-112 win in their latest duel, the Golden State Warriors star had to hear «I Love L.A.» blare as he ran into the storied franchise's newest superstar.

Luka Doncic found Curry, and the two laughed as Curry put his arm around Doncic. Then, James and Curry slapped hands and hugged each other tightly as they shared a few words while covering their mouths so that the world couldn't eavesdrop.

Their teams, though, gave the NBA plenty to talk about that week of the trade deadline, first with the blockbuster trade that blindsided everyone and gave James a generational All-NBA teammate and then with the deal that gave Curry his newest All-Star teammate, Jimmy Butler.

The Lakers and Warriors made significant moves last week to load up in the Western Conference arms race. Both franchises hope they can give James and Curry one more chance to get closer to the days when they locked horns in four straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018 — two of which included Kevin Durant at Curry's side. While they might have to go through each other in the conference playoffs, their relationship is vastly different than when they were bitter rivals.

A relationship that was once «petty» and filled with «dislike» and «hate,» in their own words, morphed into what Warriors and Team USA coach Steve Kerr called a «total bromance» while in Paris, where the two won a gold medal together with Team USA.

The Warriors have tried pairing the superstars together. They made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire James last season, and, ahead of last week's trade deadline, they looked into trading for Durant with no luck.