Exclusive: Iman Shumpert says LeBron James-Steph Curry team-up would be 'cheating'

Iman Shumpert loves both LeBron James and Stephen Curry, but he doesn't think they should team up. Shumpert was teammates with James when the Cleveland Cavaliers won a championship during the 2015-16 season — a win that occurred over the Curry-led Golden State Warriors.

James and Curry have long been rivals, matching up against each other in the NBA Finals during four consecutive seasons (2015 through 2018), with the Curry-led Warriors winning three of those and the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers winning once. James and Curry have also matched up in the 2021 play-in tournament and during the 2023 Western Conference semifinals, with James' Los Angeles Lakers winning both of those matchups.

The longtime rivals recently teamed up for the first time together at the Olympics, with both emerging as the leading stars of Team USA's latest gold medal victory despite being the oldest players on the roster with James at 39 years old and Curry at 36 years of age. The duo's chemistry together gave hope that both veterans could team up one day on an NBA team before they wrap up their careers.

However, Shumpert — who was teammates with James from 2015 through 2018 — explains why that should never happen.

“They better not,” said Shumpert when asked about the prospect of both stars teaming up in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his new show, Taking One For The Team. “I'm making the announcement to them — ya'll better not. On Team USA, we loved it, laughed it up. Don't do that. It's not cool. I want ya'll to be arch-enemies. That's just what it is.”

The 34-year-old former shooting guard explains that he didn't like it when Kevin Durant teamed up with Curry to lead the Warriors to two NBA championships in 2017 and 2018 — and he wouldn't support it if James and Curry did the same.

“KD already ruined it and he went over there with Steph so they couldn't be arch enemies,” says Shumpert. “That hurt everybody's heart. ‘Bron, don't do that. Don't hurt us all. We're all going to cry and then we're going to watch it and then when we watch it. We might enjoy it, I will enjoy the hell out of it, that one-three pick and roll. I'm going to enjoy that a lot. But don't do that. That's not fair.”

Could a LeBron James and Stephen Curry team-up happen?

Although both LeBron James and Stephen Curry are towards the tail-end of their careers, they remain top 10 players in the game. James is coming off of a 25.7 point-per-game season with a career-high efficiency of 41.0 percent from beyond the arc while appearing in 71 games — his highest since the 2017-18 season. Meanwhile, Curry is coming off of a season in which he averaged 26.4 points per game with 357 treys, leading the NBA in 3-point field goals for the eighth time.

However, neither James' Lakers nor Curry's Warriors appear anywhere close to contending for a championship. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year while the Warriors failed to qualify for the postseason.

While James and Curry face the prospect of ending their careers with four rings apiece and not much of a chance for a fifth ring, Shumpert is still against the idea of the two stars teaming up.

“That's cheating,” says Shumpert. “It's literally cheating. One-three pick-and-roll with LeBron and Steph. Good luck. Good luck, guys. Please God, don't do that. That's cheating.”

Stephen Curry is currently under contract through the 2026-27 season while LeBron James holds a player option for the 2025-26 season. Considering Curry appears to be destined to end his career with the Warriors and James is looking forward to playing the remaining years of his career with his son, Bronny James, this potential star duo appears to be more of a dream scenario than anything else.