Ahead of the Golden State Warriors matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, memories of heated battles between Stephen Curry and LeBron James come to mind. In addition to Curry and James, Kevin Durant entered the rivalry in the middle of the rivalry between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In an interview with ESPN, James compared the rivalry to an infamous rap beef from the 1990s.
In the 1990s, rap beef reached new and costly heights. Amid a coastal war, rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, also known as Notorious B.I.G., battled on songs, with both sides elevating what it meant to have a rap beef.
Tupac represented the West Coast as a California-based rapper, and B.I.G. represented New York on the East Coast. Tragically, their beef ended with Tupac losing his life in 1996 via a homicide, and Notorious B.I.G. also falling victim to a murder in 1997.
Ultimately, the two rappers exist in spirit as legends, but also a cautionary tale of what happens when you take beef too far.
James, being an avid hip-hop fan, made quite the comparison.
"Those four straight years, Cleveland versus Golden State... It was like a rap beef," said James.
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Although James didn't mention the aforementioned rappers directly, they are the only East Coast vs. West Coast representatives regarding hip-hop contention on such a grand scale. While James is one for theatrics, it's hard to accept such a comparison, especially considering Curry and Durant are sitting feet away from the NBA's all-time leading scorer, smiling as he recalls their rivalry.
Still, to James' credit, the rivalry included a plethora of heated and significant moments, including Draymond Green's antics in the 2016 NBA Finals and Durant clinching a game with a 3 directly over James in the following NBA Finals.
While it's easy to make such a loose comparison to an infamous rap beef, perception isn't always reality. It's safe to say that the Warriors and Cavaliers' four years of contention featured animosity, but never did any player have their lives in danger. Ultimately, such basketball games could never match the tension of the 1990s coastal war in hip-hop, regardless of how James sells it.
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