Rich Paul decided to do some professional-grade hating this week.
The Klutch Sports mega-agent Paul raised some eyebrows during his recent appearance on Gilbert Arenas’ show “Gil’s Arena.” In the middle of a debate about the legitimacy of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 championship in the Orlando bubble, Paul, who represents LeBron James, got in a rather petty swipe at Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.
“If Steph wins in the bubble, do they discredit it?” he said. “No, they don’t.”
Here is the full clip (with Paul’s comments about Curry coming around the 1:20 mark).
https://twitter.com/dennis_k_g/status/1698781060497334686
Paul’s greater point was that James is (supposedly) unfairly victimized by fans and the media. But there was no reason for Paul to mention Curry’s name, especially so as to imply that Curry is some kind of media darling who can do no wrong. The fact of the matter is that Curry faces much of the same treatment as James when it comes to attempts to discredit his achievements (e.g. not winning Finals MVP until 2022, facing injured opponents en route to the 2015 title, getting carried by Kevin Durant in 2017 and 2018, etc.).
Curry is widely seen as James’ biggest career nemesis, particularly after four straight NBA Finals battles against each other from 2015-18. Paul is James’ agent, longtime friend, and right-hand man, so for Paul to mention Curry’s name out of the blue like that in an effort to prop up James speaks volumes about the still-growing rivalry between the two superstars.
