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NBA Fans Loved Stephen Curry's Epic Alley-Oop to LeBron James During Team USA's Win

The two NBA legends connected on this play.

Tim Capurso

LeBron James (#6) catches an alley-oop pass from teammate Stephen Curry (#4) during Team USA's win over Team Canada in an Olympics basketball exhibition on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
LeBron James (#6) catches an alley-oop pass from teammate Stephen Curry (#4) during Team USA's win over Team Canada in an Olympics basketball exhibition on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. / Screengrab Twitter @usabasketball

Stephen Curry and LeBron James have dominated the NBA for the last decade-plus, having combined to win six total MVP awards with their teams combining to win eight of the last 13 NBA championships. In short, Curry and James, as rivals of each other, have built legendary legacies.

Now, on Team USA's Olympic basketball team, the two superstars are teammates. And Curry and James didn't disappoint during USA Basketball's 86-72 victory over Team Canada in an exhibition at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

Halfway through the third quarter, Curry and James had a two-on-one fast-break opportunityβ€”and took full advantage, as Curry tossed a perfect lob to James, who slammed it home.

A play so iconic that it deserves a replay from two more angles.

NBA fans couldn't get enough of the Curry-James connection.

Curry finished with 12 points and three triples while James racked up seven points, five rebounds and three assists in the victory.

After the game, James was asked how the lob came together.

"Just two guys, we love to play the game of basketball, try to share to each other," James said. "I missed him in the first half on a wide-open three that I threw out of bounds. He was able to connect with me on the lob. It's fun."

"We play the game at a high level, but more importantly we just play the game that we love the right way ... And that's the result of it."

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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