Back in 2008, Stephen Curry put on one of the greatest runs in NCAA history. Leading the Davidson Wildcats to their only Elite Eight appearance in the tournament was an undersized sophomore who put on a staggering 34.3 points, four steals, and 3.7 assists.
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The Wildcats were not expected to make such a deep run into the tournament. Taking a look at the rosters, Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin all had a better lineup than the North Carolina-based college.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the 20-year-old Curry kept shocking the powerhouses one after the other.
Throughout those few weeks, Steph became a household name. Every basketball enthusiast wanted to witness the prodigy play. LeBron James was one of the many who couldn’t resist watching the sharpshooter play at the NCAA tournament.
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“LeBron James signed the jersey ‘the greatest shooter in North Carolina’”: Stephen Curry
On the 30th of March, a day before the Cavaliers-Pistons clash, King James managed to find himself a seat to watch Curry perform during the Wisconsin-Davidson Sweet 16 clash.
Needless to say, Steph put on a show. Dropping 33 points, the 6-foot-2 led the Wildcats to upset the #3 Badgers 73-56.
Years later, on an appearance on JJ Redick’s “The Old Man and The Three” podcast, the GSW MVP spoke about the moment.
“You could hear these rumors like ‘hey, I think Bron’s coming to the game.’ I’m like, ‘What?!’.
It was probably his 4th year in the league. So nobody that he’d show up. We get to the Ford Field, and right about tip-off, here comes Rich, Bron. He’s there, just being a fan, watching us play.
Fast forward six years later, we playing each other in the finals and all that. It’s just a wild experience.”
Further, the 34-year-old revealed how he still kept the signed jersey LBJ gave him, stating ‘the greatest shooter in North Carolina’, in his bedroom at his father’s house.
“I still have, at my dad’s house in North Carolina, I still have a Bron jersey on the wall in my bedroom. He signed it the next year, he came to Charlotte and I went to the game. He signed the jersey, like ‘the greatest shooter in North Carolina’ or something like that. It’s still wild just to think about it.”
“At my dad’s house in North Carolina, I still have a Bron jersey on the wall in my bedroom”
-Stephen Curry details hearing about Lebron going to his college game. (@OldManAndThree) pic.twitter.com/MWUACYKC9Z
— Coach James 🇭🇹 (@JamesEdrick3) November 22, 2022
LeBron James was impressed by Curry’s 33-point game vs Wisconsin
A few days later, Bron gave an interview where he spoke about his thoughts on Steph’s performance. Simply stating that The Baby-Faced Assassin “shattered” the tough Wisconsin defense, James said:
“Yeah, he’s good. I was impressed. Played really good against a very very tough defensive-minded Wisconsin. And I think we all know how tough Wisconsin defenses are… and he shattered them.”
Further, LBJ also predicted that the Davidson star would be good in the league.
Years after Bron’s prediction, Steph has built up one of the most illustrious resumes – 2 scoring titles, 2 MVPs, 4 championships, and 1 Finals MVP.
Surely, LeBron wouldn’t have imagined that this phenom would end up meeting him in the NBA Finals on 4 instances, preventing him to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy twice.
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