Once bitter rivals at the NBA Finals, the Lakers’ superstar and Warriors’ franchise player have gotten to befriend each other through the years; and now, on the wrong side of 30, they have come to share a common goal: lead the USA to glory at the Paris 2024 Games and regain some luster for inventors of the game in old Europe, where the original Dream Team was born over 30 years ago in the Barcelona Olympics.

They both are admittedly "excited" about the fact they will be joining forces for the first time in international competition, also next to other NBA stars like Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Haliburton, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis.

"LeBron and Steph are really excited to play together. I've talked to both of them about this idea of being together after going against one another with such high stakes over the years,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said last week before the start of training camp. "They obviously fit really well together. I think the idea of Steph playing off the ball and LeBron pushing it in transition, that's pretty intriguing."

Kerr knows both players inside-out, having coached Curry in Golden State from 2014 as the franchise won four championships and facing an intriguing upcoming campaign after failing to make the playoffs this past season. He has also strategized against James many times as a rival, while the now Laker has established himself as one of the best players ever with four titles of his own, including his 2016 Finals win with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers over the Warriors.

It was a feistier back-and-forth back then between the two star players, but time seems to have sweetened their relationship, despite the competitive fire still lighting inside James, now entering his 22nd season at 39 years old, and Curry, ready to go at his 16th at 36. "It's something I'll be able to talk about with my grandkids, about being able to compete with one of the greatest players to ever play the game," James said of Curry last year, after an epic combined performance of 82 points in a double-overtime Lakers win by 145-144.

They will have time go at it again in practice starting this week in Las Vegas, where will train daily with the recently announced Select Team from 6-8 July before facing up-and-coming Canada on 10 July in the ramp-up to the Paris 2024 Games, which begin on 26 July.

While their North American neighbours seem sour on Kerr for apparently blocking the Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins’ participation with the Canadian squad, good vibes seem all but assured at Team USA, especially once Leonard, Haliburton and Embiid were cleared for competitive action after a physically-challenged NBA season.

Despite his limited play at the end of the Playoffs because of knee issues, Embiid basically assured on national television during the Finals that he would compete in the Olympics, his first with the US, after declining to join France, where he also became a national citizen, or Cameroon, where he was born. The enigmatic and often injured Leonard missed 12 of the final 14 games with the Clippers due to right knee inflammation but should participate in full activities this week, as well as the Pacers’ Haliburton, who strained his left hamstring during Indiana’s postseason run. “We expect everybody to be good to go,” Kerr said on Thursday. “We’ve been in touch with everyone, not just those three guys. ... We’ve been in communication constantly, so we expect all 12 guys to be ready to roll.”

James and Curry will no-doubt spearhead the US’ Paris attack after pre-Olympic games in Abu Dhabi and London and just in time for the opening group game of the Olympics against Serbia in Lille on 28 July. After that, Kerr’s squad is scheduled to face South Sudan and the winner of next month’s qualifier between Mexico, Lithuania, Ivory Coast, Italy, Bahrain or its host, Puerto Rico.

Fifteen other players were named on Friday to the so-called Select Team that will train with the national team as they prepare for the big-time event, featuring a roster of 12 current young NBAers, NBA G Leaguers or College standouts with international experience like the Pistons’ Jalen Duren, the Heat’s  Jaime Jaquez Jr., the Hornets’ Brandon Miller, the Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr or Orlando’s Jalen Suggs.

"They're really excited to compete together for the first time and to find over the course of the practices and the friendlies some of the nuances that they can really exploit and explore, to just to see where they can have an impact for each other," Kerr said of Curry and James. "They want to win an Olympic gold medal, and that's why they all signed up for this."

Indeed they did, and with much of the sporting world signed up as well, watching how they fare against the likes of Canada, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, current World champion Germany or the host country of France, the stakes are as high as at a big-time poker table in Vegas.