Team USA thriving with Steph Curry-LeBron James connection - ESPN

LONDON — There has been a lot of attention given this spring and summer as to whether LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who play on former title teams that appear to be past their primes, are truly finished competing for championships.

They are not.

They are about to compete for a major championship and will do so in a one-off and historic experience.

Of everything the two future first-ballot Hall of Famers have accomplished — eight championships, six Most Valuable Player Awards, five Finals MVPs, the all-time scoring title and all-time 3-point title — winning a gold medal together for Team USA is the rare novel achievement both can chase.

And they are truly doing it together.

Team USA coach Steve Kerr made it clear Wednesday night after his team impressively dismantled Serbia, one of their prime rivals in the upcoming Paris Olympics, that James and Curry are going to be chasing this piece of gold — perhaps the third and last for James, and potentially the first for Curry — side-by-side.

Kerr is committed not only to starting them but keeping them largely playing next to each other.

«I like those guys together,» Kerr said, also noting that he plans on keeping Joel Embiid as the starting center with James and Curry including Saturday's exhibition against South Sudan at O2 Arena (3 p.m. ET).

«Steph and LeBron are kind of learning how to play together and they're getting a better feel for each other.»

In the opening seconds of Wednesday's 105-79 victory against Serbia, James started a chain of ball movement that led to a Curry 3-pointer. It was the beginning of Curry's most impressive burst of scoring this summer as he drilled four 3-pointers and scored 18 points in a sprint over 11 minutes in the first half and ended the