Steph Curry: LeBron James 'amazing', but 'don't disrespect' other Cavs

Sam Amick | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption LeBron's heroics power Cavs back to the NBA Finals SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt breaks down Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, where LeBron James added another chapter to his legacy by leading the Cavaliers past the Celtics in Boston.

HOUSTON — Steph Curry is amazed by LeBron James just like everyone else.

The Golden State Warriors point guard watched his longtime foe in action from afar on Sunday night, when his Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Boston Celtics in Game 7 and James earned his eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. But when Curry was asked about James’ ability to get this particular team to the Finals stage, he came to the defense of all the Cavaliers not named LeBron.

“I hate when people say that,” said Curry, whose Warriors are trying to earn a fourth consecutive trip to the Finals to face Cleveland with their own Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals tonight in Houston. “Like it’s — they’re NBA players, and yeah they’re new and what-not and ‘Bron is amazing, (and) he played an unbelievable playoff run to date and has willed his team to his eighth straight Finals and all that, which is unbelievable to think about the consistency and the longevity and just the level of greatness that he’s shown in the Eastern Conference.

“As a basketball fan, to turn on the TV last night and watch the game and there were points in the game where you didn’t know how it was going to play out and they found a way to get it done, so shout-out to him. It was an amazing performance, but don’t disrespect the other guys out there. They fought hard too.”

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The man has a point.

From Jeff Green (19 points in Game 7) to Tristan Thompson (nine rebounds) to George Hill (plus-24 rating) and J.R. Smith (12 points), the Cavs couldn’t get there without contributions from the “others,” as Shaquille O’Neal always describes role players. What’s more, the players who came the Cavs’ way during a roster overhaul at the February trade deadline played only a minimal role (Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson played a combined 17 minutes while Rodney Hood didn’t play).

Still, James was the one finishing with 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, a 48-minute performance that upped his remarkable playoff production yet again (34.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.4 steals in 18 games). So might James playing the entire game compel Curry to do the same?

“Not at all,” he said. “That’s two different situations. …Whether it’s 39, 40, 41, 48, whatever minutes you play, just be ready.”