Former NBA star Stephon Marbury, one of LeBron James’ avid critics, set the record straight on how he really feels about the Los Angeles Lakers superstar. There is an ongoing narrative that the veteran point guard despises the 20-time NBA All-Star, but Marbury dismissed all those claims. While the former New York Knick isn’t a fan of “King James,” he doesn’t hate him, either.
Appearing in a recent episode of the Whistle Sports podcast “New York Minute,” “Starbury” said Stephen Curry should have been the Olympics MVP instead of James, prompting host Deshawn Bolden to ask him how he feels about the four-time NBA champion.
“Steph Curry should have got the [Olympics] MVP, period,” Marbury prefaced. “They think I’m a LeBron James hater. I love LeBron James as a basketball player; they get mad because I don’t agree—that I don’t think he’s better than [Michael] Jordan.”
Stephon Marbury addresses rumors that he hates LeBron:
“Steph Curry should have got the [Olympics] MVP, period… They think I’m a LeBron James hater. I love LeBron as a basketball player. They get mad because I don’t agree that he’s better than Jordan.”
(via @WhistleSports) pic.twitter.com/flUSvnSX6f
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 9, 2024
Marbury also mentioned that he got to play against Jordan, James, and Curry.
LeBron James didn’t deserve 2024 Olympics MVP, said Stephon Marbury
LeBron James and Team USA showed in the 2024 Paris Olympics why they deserve to be called “world champions.” The American team defeated the host country of France to win their 17th Olympic gold medal last summer.
The win was Team USA’s emphatic response to athletic sprinter Noah Lyles, who took a swipe at the NBA last year for calling its finals winners “world champions.” The USA men’s basketball team consisted of an all-NBA team, which included James.
After all their efforts to win the gold, James was named the Olympics MVP, averaging 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 6.8 rebounds per game. Except for the points category, which Steph Curry led with 14.8 average points, King James nearly led every major statistical category.
While James’ stats in the Olympics prove that he was the best player on the team, retired NBA star Stephon Marbury thought that Curry deserved the MVP honors more, seeing that his three-pointers in the game against France got them the gold-medal victory.
Explaining why LeBron didn’t deserve the award, “Starbury” said, “I get LeBron is the King to many, but let me say this: when you give him what he doesn’t deserve, you basically say that because of what he’s done, he should receive such a high honor on the biggest stage. No, he didn’t earn it this time.”
“I get LeBron is the King to many, but let me say this: when you give him what he doesn’t deserve, you basically say that because of what he’s done, he should receive such a high honor on the biggest stage. No, he didn’t earn it this time.”
– Stephon Marbury on LeBron winning… pic.twitter.com/9Wu6h3txEN
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 13, 2024
Despite his claims that he doesn’t despise LeBron James, Stephon Marbury’s comments seem to suggest otherwise to everyone in the basketball world.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
