Stephen Curry and LeBron James each led their teams to this year's NBA Finals, with figure to be a clashing of titans -- Curry this year's MVP, and James the greatest player of his generation.
The two are very familiar with one another on both a basketball and a personal level. James was an admirer of Curry when he was leading Davidson to unprecedented success at the college level. And, as ForTheWin's Nina Mandell discovered digging through GQ's archives, the two also fostered a friendship during Curry's rookie season.
Curry kept a diary throughout that year, and one of the entries discusses his team's visit to Cleveland, where he hung out at James' house.
"When we're hanging out, like we were at his house last week, we're basically talking about everything but the next day's game. We were commenting on the games that were playing on TV. We were watching Family Guy," writes Curry for GQ. "We talked about the trade [of Stephen Jackson by the Warriors] a little bit, and how I thought it was going to help my team.
"But we're not saying things like, 'I can't wait to guard you!' He had a bowling alley at his house, too, so we bowled for a little bit which was pretty cool."
It doesn't sound like the pair are best friends -- James famously keeps a tight circle and has previously stated he has only three friends in the NBA -- but they clearly get along and have a mutual respect.
Last summer, Curry made some waves when he said flat-out that he was a better offensive player than James. At the time, some saw that as a lot of hot air. But after an MVP year in which he broke his own record for three-pointers made in a season, few will disagree -- even LeBron has said he can't be stopped offensively.
It'll be interesting to see how that plays out on the court. LeBron won't be easily stopped, but Curry's supporting cast will offer a challenge the Cavs haven't seen this postseason.